Quaint regional cafe lures back tourists to East Gippsland
Diners travelled far and wide for Long Paddock pre-pandemic. Now, a surge in regional tourism is helping the East Gippsland venue reclaim its former glory.
Victoria Business
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You would not expect one of East Gippsland’s best dining drawcards to be nestled in the quaint town of Lindenow, but that is exactly where you will find The Long Paddock.
With diners travelling far and wide for the culinary experience, its owners have welcomed the recent lifting of Victoria’s ring of steel, which has triggered an immediate surge in visitors.
“As soon as the restrictions came down, we had Melburnians visit the very next day,” said chef Tanya Bertino, who owns the restaurant with fellow chef and husband, Anton Eisenmenger.
“From what we’ve seen, the efforts of the state government, Destination Gippsland and local marketing bodies have helped immensely.
“Visitors are spending generously and there’s a lot of goodwill, which has been great.”
Since opening in 2016, The Long Paddock established a name for itself, specialising in seasonal dishes made with local produce, right down to the wine list.
“Local produce is what we’re all about and the reason we exist,” Ms Bertino said.
“We’re surrounded by great quality produce and we’re in such a unique and fortunate position to have it right on our doorstep.”
Despite the restaurant’s popularity, it wasn’t immune to the effects of lockdown and the business had to pivot operations for much of the year.
“The thing that most hampered us was the social-distancing measures since we’re such a small space, so we decided to create dinner packs with contactless pick-up until restrictions eased enough for us to reopen our doors,” she said.
The heat-at-home meals were so popular that cars were picking up orders every 10 minutes for the duration of lockdown, with dedicated Facebook groups alerting fans each time the chefs updated the menu.
“The winemakers were loving us in particular, because our business was going through about four times as much wine than we typically would, ’Ms Bertino said.
“For people in the region, it became something to look forward to.”
While much of the restaurant’s operations have since returned to normal, Ms Bertino plans to make use of their improved outdoor space.
“We adapted our outdoor space to accommodate social distancing measures, making it greener and prettier with outdoor fans,” she said.
“Lindenow is such a beautiful country town in its own right, so now our diners can enjoy the sights and flavours of the region at once.”
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