Behind a speakeasy-style door at the rear of Maffco Brewery in Maffra lies one of Gippsland’s most exciting culinary discoveries. Tucka@Maffco is a true farm-to-fork restaurant where the menu changes daily, guided by the seasons and the stories behind every local ingredient.
Spring might bring peas from the kitchen garden folded into coal-roasted potato gnocchi with saffron cauliflower sauce and asparagus.
Summer could showcase freshly caught Lakes Entrance seafood or fruit from Maffco’s own orchard.
Tucka is the kind of place where time feels like a gift – reflected in the careful preparation of Gippsland produce and the cosy dining room where leather chairs invite guests to linger over one more glass of wine.
A CHEF WHO’S COME FULL CIRCLE
Executive Chef Emma Paynter, a Gippsland local, first made her mark at Tinamba Hotel before spending eight years at Sale’s Criterion Hotel.
When Maffco Brewery opened in 2022, she crafted a menu of country classics with signature twists – think hot honey smoked chicken wings and banh mi-style burgers.
In 2023, Paynter brought Head Chef Paul Sanders and Sous Chef Bernard Sanjeewa into the fold, turning their collective focus to Tucka, where creativity and ambition truly shine.
“Working at Tucka feels like coming home,” Paynter said.
“I love taking the best of Gippsland – beef from our own Benbullen farm, honey from the hives out the back – and transforming it into something that surprises and delights people.
“We don’t call this fine dining, more re-fined. We like to have fun and want you to pick up the food and get messy.”
FROM PADDOCK TO PLATE
Tucka’s menu is anchored by produce from Maffco’s Benbullen farm, supplying Berkshire pork and 100 per cent grass-fed Speckle Park beef.
Cuts are butchered onsite, cured into house-made bresaola, smoked for croquettes, or aged into a tomahawk-for-two before being cooked over a wood fire beside the restaurant’s window.
Guests begin with house-baked saltbush damper and Maffco honey butter, then move through dishes like:
– Benbullen smoked pork and leek croquettes with roasted apple cider mayo and pickled fennel
– Benbullen bresaola with Shadows of Blue cheese, Maffco ginger beer-roasted grapes, and Crooked River walnut gremolata
– Lakes Entrance baked orange roughy and Bass Strait scallops with mandarin beurre blanc, chimichurri, and chorizo-almond crumb
– White chocolate and cinnamon panna cotta with honey-roasted Picnic Point apples and walnut baklava crumble
Paynter’s personal favourite? The house-cured bresaola.
“I make it in-house using Benbullen girello and local red wine,” she explained.
“Waiting weeks for it to cure nearly kills me, but the result is a deep purple outer with soft, salty red beef inside. Topped with the blue cheese, grapes, and gremolata, it’s like folding a tiny taco of savoury joy.”
