24-Year-Old Winner of Arizona Cocktail Week Joins Downtown's Soon-To-Open Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails as Lead Bartender

"Shel Bourdon is the 'ying' to my 'yang'," says Stephen Jones, the 32-year-old executive chef of Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails of his lead bartender. "She has a complex understanding of flavors and can identify the different layers within each dish." The 24-year old Bourdon, who moved to the Valley...

By Laura Hahnefeld

May 18, 2012

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"Shel Bourdon is the 'ying' to my 'yang'," says Stephen Jones, the 32-year-old executive chef of Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails of his lead bartender. "She has a complex understanding of flavors and can identify the different layers within each dish."

The 24-year old Bourdon, who moved to the Valley from Los Angeles last July and won the Last Slinger Standing Ultimate Shake Off competition during February's Arizona Cocktail Week, will spearhead the beverage menu and cocktail program at Blue Hound, the restaurant that bills itself as a "cozy, yet chic metropolitan gastro lounge," set to open this June in CityScape's Hotel Palomar.

Bourdon's libation inventory will sport more than 275 spirits, 20 craft beers, and 30 cocktail concoctions split into six specialty categories.

Blue Hound chef Jones adds that Bourdon's "been able to create a beverage menu that solidifies the gastro lounge concept of Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails by incorporating balanced cocktail selections that will perfectly enhance each guest's dining experience."

Stay tuned for details.

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