Eating while riding horseback was pioneered by the efficient Mongols, who also adjusted to reading, receiving haircuts, and filling out their taxes atop their four-legged mobiles. Enjoy the convenience of chairs and tables with today’s Groupon. For $25, you get $50 worth of fine dining and drinks at Red Pony Restaurant in Franklin, which was voted one of Williamson County’s best fine-dining restaurants in 2008. Call ahead for reservations.

Under the tutelage of chefs Jason McConnell and Carl Schultheis, Red Pony has come to be recognized as one of the area’s finest dining destinations. Working together for several years has melded the duo’s diverse cooking styles into a complementary mélange of delicious flavors. Red Pony’s décor consists of warm, reddish tones, rustic oak accents, and exposed brick, while the menu offers a concise selection of cosmopolitan flavors that will have you galloping through a prairie of taste. Appetizer selections roam the globe with such dishes as tuna Napoleon with sushi rice, seaweed salad, and tempura flakes ($9); grilled lamb chops with Italian salsa verde ($12); and guacamole with crispy jicama and fresh corn tortilla chips ($9). Chomp on fresh leafage with the grilled pear and roasted beet salad with Bonnie Blue goat cheese and sherry vinaigrette ($7.50).

If you’re hungry enough to eat a horse-sized bowl of JELL-O, the attentive staff at Red Pony will promptly induce and subsequently quash cravings for seared scallops (with cauliflower-parmesan gratin, asparagus, and hazelnut-tomato pesto, $25), shrimp and grits (with apple-smoked bacon, green onions, and mushrooms, $23), or rustic lamb stew (with root vegetables, tomatoes, and parmesan polenta, $21). Pumpkin cheesecake pie ($7) and white chocolate and cranberry bread pudding ($8) combine equal amounts of seasonal ingredients and decadence. Red Pony also offers a vast drink menu of wines and cocktails, such as the Clint Eastwood (Basil Hayden bourbon with a splash of amaretto and a smidge of bitters, $11).

Fine dining doesn’t necessitate a sit-down with a gaggle of monocle-toting railroad tycoons or jester-accommodating soirees in Bill Gates’ court. Instead treat yourself or pry your mail clerk from his beloved horse calendar to partake of a fusion of flavors at Red Pony.

Reviews

The Nashville Scene sampled the Red Pony's gastronomic wonders and floated away happy:

• One of our favorite appetizers was the unusual pairing of fig jam, arugula and goat cheese on a crispy rosemary flatbread. The sweet-and-savory appetizer recently rolled off the menu to make room for a sampling trio of crab claws, fried shrimp remoulade and crawfish Thermidor (a Gulf-inspired twist on the classic French treatment of lobster meat tossed with cream sauce and broiled). – Carrington Fox

Citysearchers give the Sizzle-recognized Red Pony four stars, Yelpers give 4.5, and OpenTable diners mostly give five to the Pony:

• The food was tasteful and well presented…I would highly recommend going for appetizers and drinks at the bar. – fwrsrnice, Citysearch
• The beef tenderloin was tender and flavorful and the risotto was amazing. The flounder was also very delicious. The chocolate demise dessert was literally the best thing I have ever eaten. – OpenTable user who dined on 02/05/2010