About Us
Coohills Restaurant and Bar opened its doors to Denver’s hip LoDo neighborhood in 2011. The restaurant’s namesake husband-and-wife team Tom and Diane Coohill brought their complementary expertises together to create a unique and appealing dining experience reminiscent of that found in restaurants in Europe, with a focus on local, regional and farm-fresh ingredients.
The comfortably elegant space gives diners the opportunity to design their own experience, whether they desire to pull up to the inviting community table or kitchen-view Chef’s Counter, tuck in at an intimate space for two or more, or enjoy the outdoor terrace for a cocktail and small plates with an incomparable Rocky Mountain view.
The menu focuses on the freshest food each season, including such delectably tempting offerings as fresh crudo salads, hot-from-the-oven breads, a variety of house-made pâtés and house-cured charcuterie, and the restaurant’s signature crab cakes, as well as entrees of pasta and fresh seafood, roasted game and meats and locally grown vegetables. All desserts are made in-house, too — including ice creams, pastries and the famous marjolaine.
Our Team
Tom Coohill
Chef Tom Coohill began his love affair with French cuisine at L’Auberge de Champs in Kentucky before training under Master Chefs at the Michelin 3-star L’Oustau de Baumanière in France, Mobil 5-star Le Francais in Illinois and the fabled Ma Maison and Le St. Germain in Los Angeles. He made his mark in 1992 when he introduced Ciboulette in Atlanta, a nationally acclaimed modern French restaurant which was ranked in the top 10 by Condé Nast and top 25 by Esquire Magazine. In 2009 he opened Coohills, a French-inspired restaurant in Denver with a focus on locally sourced farm fresh ingredients. Chef Tom’s passion for creating memorable dining experiences is blissfully evident to all who attend one of his thoughtfully curated wine-pairing dinners.
Since bringing his expertise to Colorado, Tom has been an integral part of the state’s culinary community. He frequently participates in prestigious events such as Aspen Food & Wine Classic and Telluride Food + Vine. He has been a guest chef at the Crested Butte Wine + Food Festival and “Table at the Lodge Guest Chef Series” at The Stanley in Estes Park. Tom has won multiple awards at the annual Beaujolais & Beyond Festival in Denver, including Best Appetizer in 2015 for his famous blue crab cake with a Champagne tarragon nage, which can still be found on the menu at Coohills. He hosted an event at Coohills in 2019 for Denver’s sister city Brest, France in collaboration with Michelin star Chef Nicolas Conraux from La Butte Restaurant in Brest. In 2019, he was invited to participate in the Chefs Club, Park 90 + Chef Tom Coohill, a four-month restaurant takeover in Aspen. The space was designed to mimic Coohills in Denver. While there, Chef Tom hosted private events for the likes of Martha Stewart and Alice Waters. Internationally, Tom was a featured chef at the 10th annual Sabor Barranquilla gastronomic festival in Barranquilla, Columbia in 2017. He served as a guest chef at the 2014 Food & Fun Festival in Reykjavik, Iceland and hosted the Taste of Iceland in Denver.
Tom was a key player in the 2017 Plate of the Union Farm Bill Summit in Washington DC. He joined other elite chefs, including Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio. Through a series of meetings with Congress, Plate of the Union addressed the country’s hunger issues with a primary focus of revamping the food labeling system and food waste.
Diane Coohill
Diane Coohill is famous in Denver, and well beyond, as “the party girl” — but in the best possible way: Diane is the linchpin to the painstaking organization required to keep Coohills running smoothly. Given the consistent rotation of private events coming through Coohills’ doors — from small gatherings to celebrate the influential to extravaganzas of 600 or more (such as the Starz Denver Film Festival) — incredible attention to detail is essential. It’s not uncommon for Diane and her staff to coordinate up to seven parties a night with the kind of precision normally associated with military operations and surgical procedures.
With 30 years in the industry, Diane is well-equipped to tackle whatever comes through Coohills’ doors. Diane founded the Atlanta Catering Managers Association and served on several committees for the Atlanta Restaurant Marketing Association. She garnered recognition as one of the most respected sales professionals for her work as Director of Sales & Catering for the Peasant Restaurant Group's 19 locations. In addition, she managed the sales, marketing and special events for Ciboulette and Coohill's: A Steakhouse & Bar while in Atlanta.
When she’s not adding new accessories to the IKONIC line of chef wear that she and Chef Tom founded but she now spearheads, Diane tries to get up into the Foothills or the mountains on a trail a few times a week, because ultra runs and races are a passion. Back in the dining room, Diane likes to ensure that she interacts with guests one-on-one, and the results are undeniable. It’s that personal touch and attention to detail that bring groups and individual diners back to Coohills again and again.
