One of the founders of Tucson Originals, an organization that promotes independent restaurants, is selling his eatery to a Canada-based chain of pubs.
Alan and Miki Zeman sold Fuego Restaurant Bar & Grill, 6958 E. Tanque Verde Road, which will reopen as part of a British-themed chain of restaurant.
"When we got into business, it was part of a 10-year plan," said co-owner Alan Zeman, a noted chef who ran the restaurant with his wife, Miki. "But there was an offer made to us, and we said it was time to go."
The 4,500-square-foot restaurant will be renovated and will reopen by April as The Firkin & Friar Pub, said new owner Richard McKnight.
McKnight will operate the restaurant with James Lengel, with whom he expects to open three more Firkin pubs in Tucson.
It's part of an expansion plan for the Firkin Group of Pubs, an Ontario-based chain that operates 41 restaurants in Canada and the United States.
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The Firkin Group plans to open 120 more new locations in the next few years, said Katie Magers, a company spokeswoman.
Frog & Firkin, 874 E. University Blvd., is not part of the chain.
The Firkin Group's expansion plans are not welcomed by some local restaurateurs.
Fuego "represented the Southwest," said Don Luria, owner of Terra Cotta, a restaurant at 3500 E. Sunrise Drive in the Catalina Foothills. "Now we have a chain coming in that's not only representing another company but another country."
Luria is the president of Dine Originals, a national group of 700 independent restaurants and cafes banding together to compete against national chains.
The concept is modeled after Tucson Originals, a group of 40 local restaurant owners founded in 1998 by local restaurateurs including Luria and Zeman.
"We're losing an independent … That's what is happening across America. We can't stop chains from expanding but we want to slow them down," Luria said.
The Firkin pubs will not be "cookie cutter experiences," countered McKnight. "No two pubs are ever the same. These will each have their own unique characteristics."
Selling the restaurant to a franchise owner was based only on making a good business decision, Zeman said. "There's not a lot of choice in sales. It's strictly a business decision on who makes the best offer."
He added that the Tucson restaurant scene is heavily "saturated."
"It takes more and more to be successful. And each year we were having a hard time with our (sales) volume," Zeman said.
After more than 30 years in the culinary business, Zeman said, it's time to move on to new pursuits.
A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Zeman opened Fuego in 1996 and has developed a large local following.
The restaurant has won numerous national awards, and Zeman has appeared on national and local cooking shows. He has been featured in cookbooks and in several magazines, including Bon Appétit.
Calling himself the "Fuego daddy," Zeman will continue to co-host the radio show "The Z' Mans Restaurant Corner" on The Jolt (KJLL, 1330-AM).
Zeman is also continuing to sell a line of seasoning and barbecue products and will work as a consultant for various companies.