Hogget Kitchen

“We use only local Gippsland food in order to have a connection with the produce, people, and environment we work with. We source older animals, like hogget, for their unique flavour. People eat too much spring lamb, and older animals are just as great – if not better.”

Charcuterie; churrasco Gippsland lamb cooked on the barbecue; and Trev’s menu (a five-course degustation).

Traditionally, other Victorian regions have had all the press, but Gippsland’s sheep and cattle country is finally starting to get some food kudos of its own.

Hogget Kitchen, housed at the rustic home of natural-wine champions Wild Dog Winery, is now under the stewardship of Trevor (Trev) Perkins, a foragin’, huntin’, and fishin’ kind of chef who can break down a whole beast and get it onto the churrasco barbecue before you’ve finished your first glass of Patrick Sullivan Chardonnay or William Downie Pinot Noir.

While lamb is a staple, the cuts change throughout the week as Trev works his way through the carcass. His food is unintimidating and approachable, from a lickable bowl of potato gnocchi with Tarago River Cheese gratin, to house-made charcuterie that’s pure nose-to-tail pleasure.

"It’s a celebration of an oft unsung region, with Perkins firing up the charcoal smoker out front, in which he cooks up a changing line-up of house-butchered beasts." Delicious