Chef Robert McGrath Leaves Spotted Donkey Cantina

Less than three months into his new stint as executive chef at Spotted Donkey Cantina, the upscale Southwestern and Mexican restaurant at Hayden Village in Scottsdale, Robert McGrath, the James Beard Award-winning chef and former owner of Roaring Fork, is gone. McGrath took the Spotted Donkey gig last October, after...

By Laura Hahnefeld

January 26, 2012

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Less than three months into his new stint as executive chef at Spotted Donkey Cantina, the upscale Southwestern and Mexican restaurant at Hayden Village in Scottsdale, Robert McGrath, the James Beard Award-winning chef and former owner of Roaring Fork, is gone.

McGrath took the Spotted Donkey gig last October, after leaving Renegade Canteen in North Scottsdale where, according to The Republic, McGrath's leaving resulted as a dispute with the restaurant's two owners.

Lauren Pentecost, a manager at Spotted Donkey, confirmed McGrath's departure but declined to provide further details regarding the circumstances.

Chef James Godfrey, who has been with the restaurant since it opened in 2010, has taken over as Spotted Donkey's new executive chef.

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