OCTOBER 2021 | 52 | FRONTDOORS MEDIA COVER STORY { by karen werner } While navigating the C OVID crisis, Mark Tarbell revised his recipe for success Photo by Scott Foust A Taste For MORE

FRONTDOORS MEDIA | 53 | OCTOBER 2021 ince coming to the Valley, Mark Tarbell has gone from strength to strength, enjoying success as a wine expert, chef, restaurateur, TV host and amateur musician. Even still, 2020 was one of the most challenging years of his life. In March, dine-in services at Phoenix restaurants were suspended to limit the spread of COVID-19. Tarbell’s, the eponymous restaurant, did not offer takeout or delivery. “It was a pretty scary moment,” Tarbell said. “I looked at the prospect of everything I did for the last 27 years being no longer.” Just like that, the team changed its business model. They put together an online ordering system, rented cars and figured out how to package and deliver food. “We took all the tables out of the restaurant and filled it with boxes and tables to organize. We drilled a hole through the wall, pulled phone cables through and had six stations with iPads for taking orders,” he said. Tarbell tapped his servers for delivery to provide jobs for them, friendly faces for customers and to ensure the quality of the food. Running the operation was scary and expensive — and also a smashing success. April revenue was above the previous year. “The phones were ringing off the hook,” Tarbell said. “We were scrappy, and we wanted to be excellent.” Tense days were filled with two-a-day COVID-protocol meetings and worry about the safety of family, staff and patrons. “We were walking this razor’s edge all year, believing we were part of the solution,” Tarbell said. Dubbed an “essential business” — “I was like, seriously? We’re one step below Disneyland. We’re here for entertainment.” — Tarbell came to see himself as part of the food distribution system. “We were trying to be consistent and give people what they wanted, when they wanted it, which is a lot of their favorites,” he said. “What woke up in us during COVID was innovation and wanting to break some of the models we were doing before. We’re all essentially wacky creatives, and this really ignited that in us.” “We were walking this razor’s edge all year, believing we were part of the solution.” S