Stenson, Murray (1949–), is a Seattle bartender who was instrumental in helping usher in the cocktail renaissance in the Pacific Northwest and around the world. Affectionately nicknamed “Mur the Blur” by his friends and regular guests after a local racehorse, he is known for his speed, hospitality, and almost encyclopedic memory of cocktails.
His career began in the 1970s; he first worked as a bartender in 1976 at Benjamin’s in Bellevue, Washington. Throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Stenson worked in numerous Seattle bars and restaurants, most notably at the famed restaurant Il Bistro in Pike Place Market, where he managed the bar for nearly a decade.
In 2001, Ben Dougherty and Kacy Fitch, co-owners of Zig Zag Café, hired Mur the Blur away from Il Bistro to run their bar. While there, Stenson brought international notoriety to the bar as well as to Seattle’s burgeoning cocktail culture.
Bottoms Up by Ted Saucier. See Saucier, Ted. During his tenure at Zig Zag, Stenson single-handedly revived the Last Word, a house cocktail of the Detroit Athletic Club that was first published in Bottoms Up. Thanks to him, the Last Word quickly spread around the world and has become an iconic classic. Murray left Zig Zag Café in 2012 and has since worked on and off at several Seattle bars.See also Last Word.
Clarke, Paul. “Characters: Murray Stenson.” Imbibe Magazine, October 22, 2012. http://imbibemagazine.com/characters-murray-stenson/ (accessed March 11, 2021).
Vermillion, Allecia. “Zig Zag’s the Last Word: An Oral History.” Seattle Met, December 1, 2014. http://www.seattlemet.com/articles/2014/12/1/zig-zag-the-last-word-an-oral-history-december-2014 (accessed March 11, 2021).
By: Jeffrey Morgenthaler