As rapid expansion looms on the horizon, Lowlands Group has appointed Dave DeMarco as its new Director of Operations.
DeMarco is a Wisconsin native brings 17 years of restaurant and retail operations leadership to the table including management for Target and program management for the Kohl's Corporation. As vice president of operations for the Roaring Fork Restaurant Group, DeMarco also assisted in scaling the business from one Qdoba location to 30 locations over a nine-year period.
"There couldn’t be a better time for Dave to join our team," says CEO Eric Wagner. "His experience in scaling up operations is exactly what we need as Lowlands Group continues to grow and expand."
Lowlands Group owns and operates seven Grand Cafés in Wisconsin including: Benelux Grand Café and Market, Café Bavaria, and Café Centraal, as well as four Café Hollanders located on Downer Avenue, the Village in Wauwatosa, Hilldale in Madison and Mequon.
The group has also signed on as a tenant for The Corners of Brookfield, a new new regional, mixed-use, open air shopping destination which will feature stores including Von Maur, Sendik's, Anthropolologie, Evereve, lululemon, twigs, Arhaus and -- as announced this week -- the first L.L. Bean location in Wisconsin.
As a passionate champion of the local dining scene, Lori has reimagined the restaurant critic's role into that of a trusted dining concierge, guiding food lovers to delightful culinary discoveries and memorable experiences.
Lori is an avid cook whose accrual of condiments and spices is rivaled only by her cookbook collection. Her passion for the culinary industry was birthed while balancing A&W root beer mugs as a teenage carhop, fed by insatiable curiosity and fueled by the people whose stories entwine with every dish. Lori is the author of two books: the "Wisconsin Field to Fork" cookbook and "Milwaukee Food". Her work has garnered journalism awards from entities including the Milwaukee Press Club. In 2024, Lori was honored with a "Top 20 Women in Hospitality to Watch" award by the Wisconsin Restaurant Association.
When she’s not eating, photographing food, writing or planning for TV and radio spots, you’ll find Lori seeking out adventures with her husband Paul, traveling, cooking, reading, learning, snuggling with her cats and looking for ways to make a difference.
