Acclaimed Mexican Spot Cantina 1910 Parts Ways With Its Chef

By Anthony Todd in Food on Dec 18, 2015 8:52PM

The back dining room. Photo by Anthony Todd.

Thursday afternoon, news broke that Cantina 1910, the critically-acclaimed modern Mexican spot in Andersonville, had lost its chef. The restaurant had already dealt with a a Yelp smear campaign recently—not a great way to end out the year. The Reader reported that Chef Diana Davila had resigned, citing "'irreconcilable differences" with the Andersonville restaurant's ownership."

Co-owner Mark Robertson told Chicagoist that the departure wasn't about a personality conflict—rather, the irreconcilable differences "stemmed from her management of the daily business aspects of running a restaurant operation."

Davila's departure is especially surprising given that Cantina 1910 (previously known as Cantina de la Granja) had kept her on salary for more than a year while they built the restaurant and did research. That's a big investment for less than 3 months at the restaurant. The Reader notes that Cantina 1910's chef de cuisine Aaron Covert and executive sous chef Alison Denton also quit.

However, the culinary work that Davila did—that made the spot one of the our top openings of the year—won't disappear with her. Cantina 1910's menu will stay the same, the owners said, and diners shouldn't expect radical changes in the near future. The owners are conducting a national search for a new chef.