Chef Mark Tarbell is one of Phoenix’s best known chefs and restaurateurs. Phoenicians may not realize that he has three other Denver-based restaurants, with the third, called Home, just opening at the end of 2009. If you are in the Denver area, this one is worth checking out:

Chef Mark Tarbell is serving childhood comfort food alongside more adult fare at Home, his third Denver-area restaurant. Home, which opened at the Streets at SouthGlenn in December 2009, offers a menu with something for every mood, from PB&J sandwiches and chicken noodle soup to seared ahi steak and kelp salad.

Nostalgia permeates the “Vintage Home” side of the menu, with snow day favorites such as grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup bringing back the tastes of simpler times. With his “Modern Home” menu items, Tarbell is cooking for grownup palates and waistlines, with smaller portions and several vegetarian and gluten-free options.

“The modern side has food that I cook at home for myself and my family, with fresh ingredients and locally grown produce whenever possible,” Tarbell said.

Sandwiches are made with bread from Colorado-based Udi’s Bakery, a continuation of Tarbell’s focus on buying locally grown and produced ingredients whenever possible. Buying local and organic whenever possible is a passion for Tarbell, and has been a practice since opening his first restaurant, Tarbell’s, 15 years ago. It continued with The Oven, his first Colorado restaurant, which opened in 2004 at Belmar in Lakewood.

Prices at Home range from $6 for a Vintage Home PB & J sandwich to $29 for a Modern Home Cast Iron-Seared Pepper Steak. The décor is comfy, old-time Colorado and features photos of rodeo cowboys and walls covered with wood recovered from an old barn.

With 4,000 square feet of indoor space, Home will seat about 110 in the dining area and bar, with seating for 50 outside on the large patio. The restaurant, which employs about 30 people, is just down the street from Tarbell’s second The Oven location. In addition to his three Denver eateries, Tarbell continues to operate his namesake restaurant in Phoenix.

Home, at 6955 S. York Street in Centennial, is open for lunch and dinner daily, from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. For reservations call 303-703-8100 or visit www.restauranthome.com.

About Mark Tarbell
Chef Mark Tarbell is the owner of four restaurants, Tarbell’s in Phoenix and Home, The Oven and Oven II near Denver, Colorado. Mark received wine training at the l’Academie du Vin in Paris and earned a Grande Diplome d’Etude Culinaire from La Varenne Ecole du Cuisine. At 23, he was the youngest Food & Beverage Director of any Five Diamond property in the world when he went to work for The Boulders resort in Arizona. Nominated for “Best Chef – Southwest” by the James Beard Foundation, he has cooked at many special events around the country and for a stellar line-up of political, sports, and entertainment celebrities including the Dalai Lama, Muhammad Ali and Clint Eastwood. Mark and his restaurants have earned more than 50 industry awards, including Food & Wine’s “Best Restaurant” and The Wine Spectator’s Award of Excellence.

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