The monopoly tycoons of the late 19th century traditionally did their wheeling and dealing at exclusive restaurants, cleverly concealing the fact that they still lived with their moms. Linger at one of their former stomping grounds with today's deal: $30 for $65 worth of fine dining at The Milton Inn Restaurant in Sparks.

Housed in a quaint, 270-year-old fieldstone building, the award-winning restaurant's country manor setting is straight out of Beauty and the Beast. The dinner menu is a prestigious collection of carefully crafted cuisine. Appetizers include a selection of shellfish (oysters Rockefeller and clams prepared with garlic butter, bacon, and red peppers) and saucy morsels. The pan-seared foie gras ($18) drizzled with blackberry balsamic and sided with prosciutto and chive crispy polenta is mysterious and indulgent. Main courses include seafood andor ($36), a cluster of aquatic proteins (lobster, rockfish, crabmeat, mussels, and shrimp) tossed in a smooth dill sauce and sided with vegetables and wild-mushroom risotto; and an 8 oz. filet served with mushrooms, asparagus, and buttermild chive potatoes ($36).

The Milton Inn has been praised by notable glossies including Life and Time, and its wine cellar is among the region's most revered. Business-casual dress is preferred, and parking is complimentary at the Inn's private lot.

This Groupon is valid toward dinner only.

Reviews

The Baltimore Sun says the Milton Inn is one of the Baltimore area's best bets:

• Spring may be the best time of year to visit the Milton Inn, Baltimore's favorite destination restaurant. The front dining room of the mid-18th-century fieldstone house has large windows on two sides and is filled with light as the sun sets. The apple-green walls and handsome period furnishings of this pretty room look their best this time of year. Its well-spaced tables beckon, set with white linen, sparkling stemware and fresh flowers. The effect is fresh and appealing. – Elizabeth Large

Gayot spotlights Milton Inn's intimate ambience:

• This grande dame of a stagecoach stop-turned-country inn (c. 1740) radiates care within a series of small rooms that make for intimate dining, and the manor house décor is striking. We like the red room, its crimson walls edged in white, its collections of prints and china plates artfully hung. But then there’s the hearth room to consider, with its massive stone fireplace, and the blue room, too, with its curtains in soft yellow chintz. Chef-partner Brian Boston is upholding its reputation as a bastion of fine dining. His seasonal menu nods to regional traditions while adding Southern touches… – Gayot

Citysearch named Milton Inn Best Baltimore Fine Dining in 2005. Seven Citysearchers rate it 4.5 stars, and 80% of Urbanspooners like it.

Class Up Your Life

Groupons are only one of the ways that you can enjoy the finer things in life on a regular basis. What are some other methods of expanding your fanciness horizon until it includes many aspects of your day-to-day life?

• Why settle for a ho-hum cloth napkin when money itself is technically made of cloth? Plus, a streak of barbecue sauce will make Alexander Hamilton look like he has cool Terminator-esque battle-damage.
• Wear a tuxedo to the drive through. If the fast-food employee jokes that you're either a groomsman or a spy, respond by smiling politely and shooting a dart into his neck.
• Catch your own lobsters using nature's lobster trap—a hypnotized pelican with a jowl full of dynamite.
• Did you know that according to the United States Copyright Act of 1976, you can legally refer to your kitchen as a gourmet restaurant? This remains true even if you're dipping a Hot Pocket into a jar of mayonnaise.