Marie Grimm, a culinary expert with more than twenty years experience creating innovative new menu items for well-known restaurant brands, has been named Vice President, Culinary Innovation, International House of Pancakes, LLC. It was announced by Natalia Franco, Senior Vice President, Marketing for the company, to whom she will report.
In her new position, Grimm will be integral to the creation of innovative and exciting menu offerings that are enticing to guests and consistent with the IHOP brand identity and operationally executable to the brand’s high standards of excellence. In addition to overseeing the culinary pipeline, she will also work closely with the marketing and menu development teams to provide valuable insight and guidance on food costs and supplies, portioning and plating, and the continuing evolution of the menu.
“I am delighted to have Marie join our team,” Franco says. “In addition to her many years of experience and her proven record of success in this industry, she brings a unique blend of creativity and operational knowledge that will be a valuable addition to bringing our guests new and exciting choices while maintaining everything they love about IHOP.”
Grimm joins IHOP from Olive Garden restaurants, where she spent the last six and a half years as Director of Culinary Development for the brand, creating its culinary pipeline, including new menu categories and offerings, and overseeing the curriculum and training for Olive Garden’s Culinary Institute of Tuscany.
Prior to joining Olive Garden, Grimm spent four years as Director of Research and Development and Corporate Chef for Hard Rock International, where she was responsible for the creative culinary development of food & beverage as well as leading purchasing worldwide.
She also served as Corporate Chef for E Brands, a division of Carlson Restaurants Worldwide, where she lead the creative charge for their new specialty restaurants while standardizing the training process as the concepts grew. Grimm began her culinary career as a chef at the 5 diamond restaurant, Victoria & Albert’s, located in Walt Disney World’s Grand Floridian Beach Resort and Spa. In recognition of her culinary achievements at Disney, she was one of an elite group of recognized by the James Beard Foundation in New York, where she was invited to cook for the membership.
Grimm will be headquartered at the IHOP Restaurant Support Center in Glendale. In addition to her culinary education which includes attending the Culinary Institute of America, she holds a B.A. in both Economics and Political Science from the Ohio State University.
