Tuki Farm Stay Is the Regional Victoria Escape Built Around Dinner

Craving a getaway that gets you back in touch with the land? At Tuki, that might mean a long lunch on a working farm, fishing for your own trout, feeding chickens, wandering the bush, then curling up beside the fire in a bluestone cottage. Set among the rolling hills of Stoney Rises in Smeaton, 90 minutes from Melbourne, this secluded farm escape combines country life with destination dining and a very comfortable place to stay.

Owners Robert and Jan Jones have welcomed diners to Tuki for more than 40 years, converting the property’s old stables into a restaurant in 1985. Across its 1500 acres, the farm produces free-range lamb, stocks live trout and gathers eggs from chickens behind the shearing shed, while a regenerative kitchen garden supplies the restaurant. Tuki was paddock-and-pond-to-plate long before the phrase became hospitality shorthand.

The building still carries traces of its former life through snug stall booths and a high-ceilinged dining room centred around an immense 360-degree fireplace.

Former Beverly Rooftop chef Andrea Ruiz cooks with the farm in full view, turning its lamb, trout and garden produce into food that is assured without losing its country directness. By day, the à la carte menu might include house-made lamb sausage with relish and cress, crisp lamb empanadas, seafood ravioli with yabbie, herbs and citrus emulsion, or ricotta gnocchi with garden pesto.

Sitchu Tip: Book the Fish & Dine package to catch your own trout before handing it over to the kitchen.

This is real rural hospitality, from the warm handshake welcome to Rob himself searing your lamb in the roaring fireplace. Meat is butchered, smoked and dry-aged in-house, with the farm’s own produce threaded throughout the menu. With eldest son Alistair and his wife Georgia now in the business, Tuki has the feeling of a family home as much as a destination restaurant, complete with quintessentially Australian leadlight windows, sheepskin throws, family photos and farm paraphernalia.

The booking-only seven-course degustation is the fullest expression of the kitchen. Trout and lamb lead the menu through dishes such as smoked trout croquettes with braised leek and herb mayo, trout pâté on fluffy homemade crumpet with faux bacon dust, crudo with garden greens, crème fraîche and avocado cream, and lamb served with jus and seasonal vegetables.

A dry-aged steak can also be ordered for the table, best beside crisp garden leaves in a bright vinaigrette. The drinks list stays close to home with premium Victorian wines, local beers and cocktails such as a rosemary-honey Old Fashioned. Finish with the deconstructed lemon tart, crowned with torched meringue, or the cheese course.

Tuki’s accolades span the Golden Plate Awards and the Regional Tourism Awards Hall of Fame, but its appeal remains grounded in the life of a family-run sheep farm.

In the 1990s, the property expanded into accommodation, with bluestone cottages built by Rob, his father and local tradesmen. Their handmade character remains in the deep fireplaces, Oregon timber ceilings and slate floors, while king beds, leather couches and floor-to-ceiling windows framing views towards the distant Pyrenees make them generous places to settle in.

Settle in and the pace softens quickly. Soak in the bath, switch on the radio, read beside the fire or sit on your private patio and watch ponies moving through the paddocks. In the morning, wake to wide country views before returning to the restaurant for breakfast.

Families and groups are well looked after too, with a spacious 1850s Miners Cottage offering room to spread out.

For a weekend built around firelight, paddocks and a long lunch worth travelling for, Tuki makes a compelling case for looking beyond Victoria’s usual country escapes. Keep the regional mood going with our guide to Victoria’s best destination dining, or turn the whole thing into a night away with the most beautiful country stays in Victoria.