My Compliments to the Chef: A Review of The Milton Inn
- jeff2604
- 12 minutes ago
- 7 min read

Discovering True French-Maryland Fusion
I’ve enjoyed both French and Maryland cuisines over the years, but I never truly appreciated how the two could be successfully fused into a tasty product that celebrates the best of both until dining at Chef Chris Scanga’s The Milton Inn. This is not a restaurant that merely substitutes local produce into French recipes or adds a Maryland favorite like crab cakes to a French menu. Instead, Chef Scanga’s menu weaves the best of both culinary traditions into a harmonious dish that is better than merely the sum of its parts. He has perfected the art of using Maryland ingredients and classic French technique to create something genuine and unique. If you simply want a delicious meal made with high quality ingredients, you will enjoy the flavors he brings to everything he serves. And if you fancy yourself to be a culinary aficionado, as I do (whether I am or not is debatable), you will revel in the complexity of his dishes.
The Setting: Elegant, Never Stuffy
From our first visit long before the Foreman Wolf restaurant group purchased the establishment, Janet and I have loved the ambiance at The Milton Inn. After Foreman Wolf renovated the historic property, I found their changes were for the better—they improved upon the warmth of the original setting while Chef Scanga elevated the cuisine. The environment strikes a perfect note: formal but never stuffy, polished but comfortable.
Service: Attentive and Informed
The service at The Milton Inn stands out as seamless—present when needed, but never obtrusive. Staff work together harmoniously, and our server could describe every menu item and its preparation with a level of detail that is rare even at prestigious establishments.
Chef Scanga emerged from the kitchen to greet us—a thoughtful gesture, considering this was only our third visit in four years. This personal touch made the culinary experience feel tailored and genuinely welcoming. I was sure they had me tagged as a complainer in their client database after I posted my first very unflattering review in 2021. After my second visit in 2023, when Chef Scanga invited me back after reading that review (that he read it at all and took the time to reach out to me still impresses me), I found he had put his imprimatur on the place. It was the better for it and I wrote as much in a follow-up post. So maybe now they list me as a friend in their database. I hope so, because I really enjoyed our dining experience during our most recent visit.
Casual vs. Formal: The Tavern and Main Dining
· The Tavern: Offers a la carte dishes, including a stellar NY Strip steak
from nearby Roseda Farms, in a casual setting.
· The Main Dining Room: Features a prix fixe menu (three, four, or five course
plus dessert) in a formal setting. The menu features top-tier beef from
Creekstone Farms—a mark of the restaurant’s connections and standards. I had
initial doubts about the prix fixe approach, but found it provided both value and
flexibility, letting diners set their price point and then choose courses according
to their tastes and appetite.
The Meal: A Journey Through Fusion
Amuse-Bouche: Tempura Zucchini Blossom
o Every home gardener in the State of Maryland grows more zucchini than they know what to do with, but Chef Scanga took the humble zucchini blossom and transformed it into something decidedly special. The tempura batter was light and airy, the finished product perfectly cooked. Reminiscent of the tempura I once enjoyed at Michelin-starred Daigo in Tokyo—high praise in itself, considering Daigo held two stars when I dined there—Chef Scanga's treatment highlighted the delicate zucchini blossom’s flavor rather than masking it under the batter. With something as delicate as a zucchini blossom, that’s no easy task. Chef Scanga and his staff nailed it.
Soup: Sweet Corn Bisque
o A well executed classic French bisque, elevated with local flavor from fresh-picked Carroll County sweet corn, abundant kernels, a touch of fresh cilantro, and a dusting of tajín. I normally dislike cilantro, I’m one of “those” people with the genetic mutation that renders it tasting like soap. In this case, used with restraint, the cilantro cut the spice and added citrusy complexity, blending perfectly with the dish. This dish higlighted the concept of French and Maryland fusion perhaps better than any item on the menu. I thoroughly enjoyed working through the complex flavor profile Chef Scanga built into the bisque. The creativity he used in fusing one of my favorite local ingredients with a classically prepared French bisque base was culinary genius.
Starter: Yellowfin Tuna Crudo
o Topped with mandarin kosho, poppy seed, and cilantro. Three delicately sliced medallions of tuna, deep red in color, graced my plate topped with the kosho and dressed with an exquisite extra virgin olive oil. Though visually delicate, the crudo was over seasoned, and I would have preferred less salt to better enjoy the intended harmony of flavors.
Mains
o Janet: Roasted Labelle Patrimoine chicken— a locally sourced, slow growing French heritage breed. Raised in a free range setting to be tender and full of flavor, according to Janet it delivered on that promise.
o Me: Prime beef tenderloin from Creekstone Farms, served with sweet corn and cherry tomato relish, topped with a grilled shishito pepper. The filet was perfectly seaasoned and cooked to a fork-tender medium rare. It was, uncharacteristically for filet, flavorful and paired naturally with the local produce. I’m a huge fan of shishito peppers and that’s the sole reason I ordered this dish, though after tasting the filet I’m glad I did. Shishito peppers are generally mild, but every now and then you get a hot one. I love them either way, but mostly I love the uncertainty. This one was mild, and the blistered skin added a savory hint of smoke to the dish.
Dessert
o Janet: Double chocolate hazelnut petite gateaux with a glass of Graham’s tawny port (unexpectedly upgraded to 30-year).
o Me: Pineapple sorbet—light and silky, served with fresh blackberries and cherries, an ideal ending after a rich meal.
Minor Critiques
· Overseasoned Tuna: Dining at this level is a partnership. It requires everyone to play their role and play it well, including the diners. That didn't happen with the tuna crudo, but we were at least partly to blame. The crudo was over seasoned, and not by a little. The salt overwhelmed the delicate flavors of the tuna and kosho, and it wasn't just me being picky. Janet felt her dish was too salty as well. Seasoning a dish like the crudo is not like seasoning a sauce, where you can taste and adjust as you go along. You get one shot at it, and you are seasoning in the blind since you can’t taste before serving. It is a bit like what Janet describes as the feeling of playing Mozart on her violin…. running naked across the stage where every blemish is on display. However, since both of our plates were over seasoned it is more likely the culprit was time. If the dish was at all delayed in being served to us, the salt would have had time to dissolve into the tuna. Even if it were prefectly seasoned, once the salt fully dissolved into the tuna it would have overwhelmed the rest of the dish. There was no crunch to it, and we were only minimally successful in our attempts to scrape it off the tuna medallions, both of which tell me it was fully dissolved by the time we took our first bite. Either way, that's on the kitchen and the service staff. In hindsight we did Chef Scanga a disservice by not sending the dishes back. It denied him the opportunity to correct the error whatever the cause, and it denied us the opportunity to enjoy the dish as he intended. That's on us.
· Cilantro Garnish: As someone sensitive to cilantro’s soapy notes, I found its presence, especially on the filet, excessive. While it worked beautifully with the bold flavor of the tajín in the corn bisque, it detracted elsewhere. Our server did inquire about preferences before we placed our orders, so once again the blame is partly mine for not mentioning it. In my defense, I didn’t expect such a bold herb to garnish a cut of beef with the delicate flavor profile of the filet. After the first soapy bite, a simple flip of my fork removed the rest of the cilantro and allowed my palate to luxuriate in the tender richness of the beef. I savored every bite of it. And the relish. It did leave me wondering what Chef had in mind when he decided to use cilantro as the garnish for this dish. Everything Chef Scanga puts in his dishes is intentional and has a purpose, but with a genetic barrier that inhibits my ability to enjoy cilantro, his purpose for this dish was lost on me. I still prefer the local terroir I get from Roseda Farm's beef over the flavor of mid-west raised beef, but I cook local beef at home. When I dine out I'm looking for something I can't get at home, and that Creekstone Farms filet was special. It was a real treat, sans cilantro.
Restraint Over Gimmicks
What makes The Milton Inn and Chef Scanga’s cooking exemplary is restraint. Nowhere is that more evident than the absence of superfluous foams or molecular tricks—which I love but only in the proper context. Molecular gastronomy would have been out of place at The Milton Inn. What I got was classic French technique, Maryland ingredients, and a complex, thoughtful and creative fusion of the two.
Verdict: The Milton Inn delivers a rare and sincere fusion experience, elevating local ingredients with French precision, attentive service, and culinary vision.
My compliments to the Chef!
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