When Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails opened in 2012, the gastro-pub restaurant brought life to downtown Phoenix's CityScape. That was in no small part thanks to then 32-year-old chef Stephen Jones, who quickly won over diners with his contemporary American fare including dishes such as Kentucky fried quail.
But after two years Jones has left his post as executive chef of the hotel restaurant.
A post on the chef's Facebook page reads in part:
"It is with sad regret and a heavy heart that I must say that as of today I am no longer the Exec Chef at Blue Hound Kitchen and Cocktails it's been a great run, we had a lot of fun, cooked some great meals together but the time has come for us to separate from each other it's been a long time coming."
In an emailed statement Niels Vuijsters, director of F&B at Kimpton's Hotel Palomar Phoenix, said:
"Chef Stephen Jones has decided to move on from Blue Hound and pursue other opportunities. We are very grateful for the passion, dedication and talent he brought to the restaurant and will be actively seeking a new executive chef who can carry the torch of Blue Hound. In the meantime, our team is still strong and and committed to creating great contemporary American comfort food and warm service our guests have come to know us for."
Jones moved to Phoenix from Chicago in 2008, eventually landing a job as chef de cuisine at Tarbell's. After leaving that restaurant he went on to work at Latilla at The Boulders resort before joining the team at Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant Group's Hotel Palomar.