Over the years, restaurateur Sam Fox had been approached multiple times about opening a dining establishment in a hotel.
He declined every offer.
“For me, I felt it was really important if I was going to get into the hotel business, I wanted to create the value for myself,” Fox said.
The founder of Phoenix-based Fox Restaurant Concepts, which merged with The Cheesecake Factory in 2019, just broke ground on The Global Ambassador, his hotel project that has been six years in the making.
The 141-room luxury hotel is slated to open in Phoenix in the fall of 2023. In addition to developing the concept, Fox will own, operate and manage the hotel.
“The property is across the street from my office and four blocks from where I live,” he said. “It’s very personal, very local for me.”
The hotel will be run by Fox’s Author & Edit Hospitality company, which also runs the newly opened Twelve Thirty Club in Nashville. This multi-level venue features a different menu on each floor, as well as a cocktail lounge and live music spaces. This summer, a 400-seat supper club is set to open on the third floor.
The Global Ambassador is geared toward tourists and business travelers, of course. But “it’s also really built for the local community,” Fox said.
The building will have several members-only areas, including a restaurant, gym, spa and more.
“It’s built around a social club at a country club,” he said.
The hotel will have a total of five restaurants, with food influenced by Mediterranean countries such as Greece, Italy and Morocco. One of the restaurants will take over the hotel’s 18,000-square-foot rooftop space with views of Camelback Mountain, which Fox is billing as the largest rooftop restaurant in Arizona.
“They’re all going to be unique, one-off restaurants,” Fox said. “In my career, I’ve never really tried to look too forward in all that.”
Regardless, Fox has come to be known as a creator of successful, scaleable restaurant concepts. The Cheesecake Factory partnered with Fox’s company to be a concept incubator. Fox founded brands such as fast-casual Flower Child, food-and-games concept Culinary Dropout, and casual Italian restaurant North Italia.
Fox Restaurant Concepts currently has more than 50 restaurants around the country.
It launched Detroit-style pizza concept Fly Bye in one of its restaurants “that had extra kitchen space” during the pandemic, Fox said. That brand appears ready to grow.
“We’re not there yet, but we’re going to announce a brick-and-mortar store in a minute,” he said. “That could be a potential growth vehicle as well.”
The company plans to open six new restaurants this year and 10 to 12 new locations in 2022. He said restaurant sales are now “well exceeding” 2019’s pre-pandemic numbers.
Fox said nothing has changed since he joined forces with The Cheesecake Factory and that he remains hands-on with the day-to-day operations of all of the restaurants.
“My role has not changed one bit except I’ve gone from employer to employee,” he said. “I’m now an employee of The Cheesecake Factory … The relationship has been amazing. They’ve been great partners through the pandemic. They’ve been incredibly supportive and helped us take care of our people.”
The story has been updated to correct the spelling of pizza concept Fly Bye.