The summertime Tucson Originals restaurant gift-certificate sale went off without a hitch two weeks ago, with some notable omissions: No certificates for Montana Avenue or the Northwest upscale mainstay Wildflower.
That's because the restaurants' owner, Sam Fox, was booted from the nearly 10-year-old independent-restaurant consortium in May after months of debates and discussions.
The crux of his dismissal, those involved said, was Fox's decision six years ago to move his corporate headquarters to Scottsdale. The Originals' bylaws state that member restaurants must be independent, locally owned, with no more than six eateries.
Fox's enterprise also exceeds the maximum number of restaurants: he has seven in Tucson, with an eighth, a hamburger concept in his former Bistro Zin, in the planning stage.
In all, Fox has 20 restaurants in Arizona, Texas and Colorado.
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"They were operating more like a chain, and that's not what our group is about. It sends a confusing message," said Pat Connors, the Originals' past president and the owner of Pastiche Modern Eatery.
"When Sam moved to Phoenix, we went back to see if we could grandfather him in," said Originals President Jonathan Landeen, who owns Jonathan's Cork. "But then I would have a problem explaining to a small restaurant why Sam can be a member."
The Originals was formed in 1998 to give independent restaurant owners more buying power and a sounding board to share concerns and ideas. Its major goal is to promote local restaurants to diners over the proliferation of corporate and chain restaurants.
Kicking Fox out of the group "was not a pleasant experience," Connors said.
Fox said Friday that he was notified by mail two months ago that he was being kicked out. Although not one of its founders, he was among the original members, he said.
Connors said the group has been discussing the membership issue since November. Fox said he did not attend those meetings.
Tucson Originals now numbers 35 restaurants, Landeen said.
Fox said that even though he is in Scottsdale, he still feels a part of the Tucson restaurant scene, where he has spent much of his life. He used to work in his father's restaurant, The Hungry Fox, a coffee shop at 4637 E. Broadway, before going out on his own. His first restaurant was Wildflower on the Northwest Side.
"There's a great bunch of restaurants in (Tucson Originals). I was proud to be a member," Fox said from San Diego on Friday. "If they don't want me to be a member, that's fine."
He added, "We're very proud of being from Tucson. We are very happy that the community has embraced us as long as they have."
Landeen said the group does not exclude locally owned chains like Magpies, which has five pizza restaurants in Tucson. But when the companies become too big, they outgrow their need for the Originals.
"Sam doesn't have any of the problems that we currently have," Landeen said.
"They felt we outgrew (them)," Fox said. "Personally, I don't think we did."