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It was spring 1998 and folks on the northwest side of town embraced his youthful enthusiasm 鈥� Fox was not yet 30 鈥� and inventiveness. Wildflower American Cuisine鈥檚 menu put French and Asian accents on classic American dishes like chops and meatloaf.

That simple start has blossomed into an emerging national restaurant career, with a portfolio of 13 boutique restaurant concepts including Zinburger Wine & Burger Bar, North Italia, True Food Kitchen, Blanco Tacos + Tequila, Flower Child and Sauce 鈥� some of which are finding homes as far flung as the East Coast and as close to home as Tucson.

After 17 years in the business, Sam Fox has found his niche: Developing interesting concepts and growing and cultivating them into brands that can find booming life far beyond Phoenix and Tucson.

Last week, Fox spun off Sauce 鈥� the Italian pizza and pasta concept that he launched in Tucson in 2003 鈥� when he sold it to Ra Sushi founders Scott Kilpatrick and Todd Belfer.

He will do it again in about 2 and a half years, when True Food Kitchen, one of his newest brands, grows from its 10 locations to 20. The brand was launched in Phoenix in October 2008 and has since expanded to include a Scottsdale location as well as restaurants in Texas, Virginia, California, Colorado and Georgia. True Food restaurants are planned in Chicago, Miami, Washington, D.C., and Bethesda, Maryland, and Fox anticipates it could arrive in Tucson in two to three years.

By then, Scottsdale-based P.F. Chang鈥檚 China Bistro, which has more than 200 U.S. locations and nearly 60 franchised restaurants worldwide, will pick up the brand and send it into the stratosphere, Fox said.

鈥淭rue Food is definitely something that we鈥檙e growing on a national level,鈥� said Fox, the 46-year-old CEO and founder of Fox Restaurant Concepts, which is based in Scottsdale. 鈥淲e have 10 open and I think we have 10 or 12 leases signed, so in the next two to three years we鈥檒l probably get up to 25 stores. And at that point, we don鈥檛 own it anymore. We have a development partnership with P.F. Chang鈥檚. At 20, Fox Restaurant Concepts exits the brand and P.F. Chang鈥檚 will own 100 percent of the brand.

鈥淲e鈥檙e nurturing and growing brands,鈥� added the father of two, who grew up in Tucson and graduated from Sabino High School. 鈥淏rands need to grow. When you get to a certain size, to nine or 10, you really need to be growing at a little bit more of a pace than we were able to do for Sauce. We have so many different brands that the organization isn鈥檛 singularly focused on anything; we鈥檙e focused on a lot of things. I think Sauce will benefit from someone singularly focused on just Sauce.鈥�

Ditto for True Food, which Fox launched in partnership with Tucson healthy foods guru Dr. Andrew Weil. The restaurant has taken off in ways that seemed unimaginable early on, outpacing Fox鈥檚 other restaurants in popularity and revenues.

鈥淚t鈥檚 well exceeded our expectations. It will turn out to be our most successful brand, and in the future it will be the most successful that we鈥檝e done,鈥� said Fox, who admitted that at first he wasn鈥檛 completely sold on the idea of healthful food translating into a thriving restaurant concept. But he changed his mind not long after having heart surgery in 2009 and took stock of his lifestyle, adopting eating habits more in line with Weil鈥檚 philosophies.

鈥淚f you come in the restaurant and you close your eyes, you really wouldn鈥檛 know you鈥檙e eating healthy food,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou would say, 鈥榃ow, what a great meal,鈥� and you wouldn鈥檛 know that you鈥檙e at a restaurant that鈥檚 healthy. We are kind of creating our own category with True Food. ... I just feel like we鈥檙e leading the trend and setting the trend in that category.鈥�

Fox said he has never set out to create a brand with the idea of spinning it off into a national chain.

鈥淥ur goal is to open up one great restaurant,鈥� he said. If a concept connects with the public, he opens more locations.

鈥淪am is one of the greatest restaurateurs in the country in my opinion. I鈥檝e got a lot of respect for what he鈥檚 been able to accomplish,鈥� said Kilpatrick, who launched Ra Sushi in Scottsdale in 1998 and four years later sold it to the national Japanese restaurant giant Benihana. With Kilpatrick鈥檚 help, Benihana grew Ra Sushi to 25 locations in nine states.

Tucson restaurateur Bob McMahon, who was partners with Fox at Firecracker in the early 1990s, said he doesn鈥檛 know of any other Arizona restaurant operator who has created as many brands as Fox. He said spinning brands off is smart.

鈥淗e鈥檚 a smart kid. Don鈥檛 worry about Sam,鈥� said McMahon, whose restaurant holdings now include his namesake steakhouse on North Swan Road and Old Pueblo Grille on North Alvernon Way.

Once Fox has taken True Food to its fruition, he will turn his full attention to the newest brand in his stable, Flower Child. It鈥檚 a fast-casual take on True Food, following the same healthy, farm-to-table and organic ethos.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a new concept, we have just one,鈥� he said. But 鈥渨e鈥檙e going to open another one in Phoenix in the next 60 days and we will be opening in California and we鈥檙e looking in Washington, D.C.鈥�

From his Wildflower maiden voyage, Fox has grown his Fox Restaurant Concepts to 52 restaurants around the country. The company employs 4,000 people and revenues will top $200 million this year, Fox said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really big business. I still wake up every day and go, 鈥業 can鈥檛 believe we鈥檙e running this big company,鈥欌�� he said with a nervous chuckle of convincing disbelief. 鈥淏asically we鈥檙e growing into a national restaurant company around the whole country. It鈥檚 crazy.鈥�