Beginning today, Coohills, the French-inspired eatery at 1400 Wewatta, will be doing a monthly prix fixe menu called “Taste of France” that will focus on a new region every month.

Each week will be a different three-course menu for $35 per person, not including tax and tip.  For March, the focus is on Lyon.

Coohills menu may be French-influenced, but it’s Colorado grown. The restaurant, co-owned by spouses Tom and Diane Coohill, partners with local and regional farmers for fresh produce, fish, poultry and meats.  All of the breads and desserts are made in-house from scratch.

Here’s the March menu lineup:

March 3-8: Saucisson “en croute” – warm lentil salad; Chicken “Coq au Vin” – pommes puree, lardon, mushrooms, onion; Coussion de Lyon – chocolate ganache, marzipan.

March 10-15: Gratinne Lyonnaise - Lyon-style onion soup; Loup de Mer Quenelle - Mediterranean sea bass, Champagne sauce; Tart de Grand-Mere – caramelized apple tart, vanilla ice cream.

March 17-22: Lyonnaise Salad – crisp farm egg, bacon, garlic, Dijon vinaigrette; Entrecote au Vin Blanc - strip steak, Boulanger potatoes, white wine, shallot and tomato; Negus Cake - chocolate cake, whipped cream, chocolate sauce.

March 24-29: Asperges Grillee Soubise - grilled asparagus, puree of braised onions; Légumes Gateau – crisp vegetable cake, spring mushrooms, peas, sunchoke, truffle vinaigrette; Marjolaine “Fernand Point” - chocolate, hazelnuts, cream.

For reservations, go to www.coohills.com or call 303-623-5700.

Nobody knows how to throw a party better than the Colorado Restaurant Association. So the annual Industry Spotlight Awards starting at 6 p.m. on April 21 at The Ritz-Carlton Denver promises to be a tasty time.

The evening, which includes fine food, will award deserving restaurant folks in various categories. They are:

Colorado Foodservice Hall of Fame: Spero Armatas – Sam’s No. 3, Denver; Blair Taylor (a personal favorite) – Barolo Grill, Denver; Dick Carleton – Mi Casa Mexican & Cantina and Hearthstone Restaurant, Breckenridge.

The Noel & Tammy Cunningham Humanitarian Award goes to Frank Day – Rock Bottom founder and principal of CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries, Inc., U.S.

The Outstanding Professional Signature Dish Award goes to Patricia Calhoun (yes, one of my besties) – chief newshound and founder of “Westword”, Denver

Regional Outstanding Professional Signature Dish Award: Paul Ferzacca – La Tour Restaurant, Vail.

Exceptional Newcomer Signature Dish Award: Paul and Aileen Reilly – Beast + Bottle, Denver.

Philanthropist Signature Dish Award: Jensen Cummings – Heroes Like Us, Denver.

Reaching for the Stars “Knoebel” Award: Bob Sabina, Chili’s, Colorado.

Pinnacol Assurance Safety Award: Karen Kristopeit-Parker - The Fresh Fish Company, Denver.

Tickets? There’s an early-bird discount good through March 31. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to www.coloradorestaurant.com/cde.cfm?event=421690.

Renowned Denver eye surgeon and radial keratotomy pioneer Larry Spivack officially retired from practice on Friday.

“It was pretty emotional,” Spivack told me. “I’ve been in practice since 1980 when I started with one employee, a receptionist. My first office was in the Greenwood Medical Building at Orchard and Quebec.”

And what does a hard-working doc do in retirement?

“Continue my charity work at the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless eye clinic.  Start a new business with my fiance, Lisa Williams (that has nothing to do with health care).  And of course, do some traveling and trying to improve my golf game.

“When I started doing radial keratotomy in the early 1980s, I was roundly criticized by my peers who thought I was doing needless surgery. Why, after all, would someone have surgery just to get rid of their glasses? Three decades later, this type of surgery is one of the most commonly performed surgeries in the world. The passage of time has validated my efforts, and turned me from a buccaneer into a pioneer.”

That you are, my friend. Enjoy the freedom that retirement can afford you!

Larry Spivak and Lisa Williams. (Blacktie-Colorado photo)

Eavesdropping on two women discussing a Steve Winwood concert: “I used to think Steve Winwood was cute, but then he got all wrinkled and old.”

“They all do.”

“Not Mick Jagger.”

Mikael Padilla, local hair stylist and owner of Mikael Padilla Salon at 300 Fillmore St. in Cherry Creek, is in La La land this weekend for a trip to the Oscars. (Read more about Mikael in our Mingle with the Singles section below.)

Padilla will be attending Sunday’s Academy Awards with friend and client, Taryn Rose, an orthopedic surgeon-turned shoe designer. You can see her designs at www.tarynrose.com. Rose is a Vietnamese refuge, who became a doctor like her father and then created a successful shoe business, designed out of frustration with shoes that left women with aching feet.

Padilla also is coloring Camila Alves’ hair on Saturday. Who is that you ask? Only the wife of Best Actor nominee (and projected winner for the film, “Dallas Buyers Club”) Matthew McConaughey.

We will try to catch up with Padilla Monday morning before this column goes to press to see what scoop he can give us from the festivities on Sunday at the Oscars. Stay tuned.

Camila Alves, top, is married to Best Actor nominee Matthew McConaughey. Her hair will be styled by Denver’s hair guru Mikael Padilla before Sunday’s Academy Awards. Padilla will attent the Oscars with his friend and orthopedic surgeon-turned shoe salesperson Taryn Rose, below.

Spanking new “Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon took a “pot” shot at our own Gov. John Hickenlooper Tuesday night by making jest of Colorado’s legal retail marijuana law.

“Colorado expects to make $100 million from taxing legalized marijuana,” the comedian said. “Governor John Hickenlooper (big audience laugh at the name) says he will use a lot of that money to build new schools.

Suggested names? “U. Holden Academy, Hot Pocket Prep and St. Mary Jane’s.”

New ‘Tonight Show’ host Jimmy Fallon took a shot at Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper. (NBC photo)

Trouble in toasted sandwich land.

Denver-based Quiznos, whose original store is less than two blocks away from me, is filing its second major financial restructuring in two years. The once thriving sub sandwich shop chain is struggling with debt and several store closures.

According to a Denver Post story, which also quotes The Wall Street Journal, “a debt restructuring or bankruptcy filing has been expected and it’s inevitable,” Restaurant Finance Monitor editor Jonathan Maze said. “The business model just does not work. Sales are falling and franchisees are struggling mightily.”

“The chain reportedly has defaulted on its debt and has been negotiating for weeks with creditors.

Citing unnamed sources, the WSJ reports Quiznos and a consortium of creditors are in the process of creating a so-called prepackaged bankruptcy that would restructure Quiznos’ $570 million in debt.

Quiznos  operated about 5,000 restaurants at its peak in 2008 but the count since has dropped to  an estimated 2,100.

As the Colorado Rockies’ Opening Day approaches, the baseball team and The Colorado Symphony are bringing baseball and symphonic music together in a historic joint venture.

The Colorado Symphony has created an original theme song to be played at all Rockies home games throughout the 2014 season. Entitled, “Take the Field,” the theme was written by Emmy-winning composer Charles Denler of Highlands Ranch. Recorded at  Boettcher Concert Hall on Feb. 19, the two-minute composition will be broadcast at the beginning of every Rockies home game in the upcoming season. Shorter variations will be heard at key moments throughout each game and used in promotions and others Rockies programs.

Portions of “Take the Field” will be heard in Rockies commercials beginning in mid-March. The full composition will debut with a   live performance by the Colorado Symphony on stage at Coors Field on opening day, April 4. Colorado Symphony ensembles will perform at Rockies games and events throughout the season.

Fans of both organizations will be seeing Rockies players and personalities on stage with the orchestra, starting with a March 9 appearance by Rockies’ mascot Dinger, part of the Prehistoric to Symphonic: Music Through the Ages concert for families at Boettcher Concert Hall.

“Like the Colorado Rockies, the Colorado Symphony is one of Denver’s major league teams,” says Jerome H. Kern, CEO of the  Colorado Symphony and co-chair of its board of trustees. “When they approached us about creating an original theme for next season, we were thrilled to get in the game. We’re looking forward to working together to entertain the people of Denver this spring and all season long.”

A longtime collaborator with the Colorado Symphony, Denler says of his collaboration: “Working with the Rockies and the Colorado Symphony, together, has been amazing. Major league orchestra and Major League Baseball: I’d call that a home run!”

As an official sponsor of the Colorado Mammoths National Lacrosse League team at the Pepsi Center, Anthony’s Pizza & Pasta is promoting fan fever with an in-game text promotion.

If the Mammoths beat the Rochester Nighthawks on Saturday, Anthony’s will give a free slice of pizza with the purchase of a slice and a fountain drink to fans who text LACROSSE to 50500 during the game. If the Mammoths lose, fans will still win a free soda with the purchase of a slice of pizza.

The promotion runs during the game and at store hours on Sunday.