CHEF MARK TARBELL

owns and operates Tarbell’s Hospitality, which encompasses Tarbell’s Restaurant, The Wine Store, T’s Wine Bar and T’s Catering. Through these entities he pursues his passion for gourmet cooking, wine education and fine dining, which began at a very young age.

When he was just 14 years old, he received a Jacques Pepin’s La Technique book. This gift ignited his interest in cooking and inspired his career, which began as a dishwasher when he was just 15 years old. He quickly moved on to become a chef and by the age of 18, Tarbell had completed a culinary apprenticeship at the Sonesta Hotel in Amsterdam, Holland.

A student of the Ecole du Cuisine La Varenne in Paris as well as the Steven Spurrier’s l’Academie du Vin, Tarbell moved to Arizona at the age of 23 and began working at The Boulders Resort, where he became the youngest food and beverages director of any Five Diamond property in the world. He worked there for eight years before pursuing his dream of owning his own restaurant. He opened Tarbell’s Restaurant in Phoenix in 1994, Barmouche in 1999, The Oven in Colorado in 2004, The Wine Store in 2013 and The Tavern at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport Terminal 3 in Phoenix in 2014.

Tarbell has been nominated as Best Chef – Southwest by the James Beard Foundation and was nominated for a Rocky Mountain Regional Emmy for hosting Arizona PBS’ “Check Please Arizona.”

He has three Emmys for serving as host of AZ PBS’ “Plate and Pour” and has been inducted into the Arizona Hall of Culinary Fame twice — as “Outstanding Chef” and “Media Master.”

Over the course of his esteemed career, he has received more than 50 city “best of” and industry awards including “Best Restaurant” by Food & Wine Magazine. He has had the opportunity to personally prepare meals for music and entertainment legends, political figures and sports celebrities such as Muhammad Ali, Shep Gordon, Johnny Depp, Willie Nelson, Sammy Hagar, Woody Harrelson, Cheech Marin, Kris Kristofferson, Toby Keith, BB King, Maynard Keenan, Sheryl Crow, Bob Weir, Clint Eastwood and hundreds more.

Additional highlights of his career include competing in and winning Food Network’s “Iron Chef America,” and serving as a reappearing chef on 3TV’s “Good Morning Arizona” for 15 years along with national programs including “Good Morning America” and “Today Show” in New York City. Other appearances include Fine Living, Lifetime and multiple Food Network programs.

Tarbell has appeared and cooked 11 dinners at the James Beard House and has been a wine judge at the Los Angeles International Wine Competition for 20 years. He has cooked for, and contributed to, hundreds of charities such as Share Our Strength, St. Mary’s Food Bank, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Ryan House, SAARC, Taste of Tennis and C-Cap Arizona. He also serves on many advisory councils and boards including the Arizona Department of Education Advisory Council, the board of the Phoenix Art Museum, All Saints Day School Board of Trustees, the Phoenix Theatre State Chairman of American Institute of Wine and Food and Officer in the Chaine des Rotisseurs as L’ Order Mondial.

Tarbell spreads his love for and knowledge of all things food and wine through various outlets. He has been published in multiple local and national magazines including Wine Spectator, Wine & Spirits, Arizona Foothills magazine, in which he served as the weekly wine columnist from 1999 to 2007, and The Arizona Republic from 2007 through 2015. He also has served as a panelist and chef presenter at the Aspen Food and Wine Classic, the featured chef at the Maui Wellness Symposium with Deepak Chopra, the Kapalua Wine and Food, the Telluride Wine and Food and the Hawaiian Food and Wine Festival.