Jackalope doesn’t do things by halves. Perched among the vines in Merricks North, the avant-garde hotel already lives somewhere between a dream sequence and an art installation. Now it’s adding another chapter to its mythology with Jackalope Weekend, a three-day collision of fine food, progressive design, contemporary art and expertly mixed drinks.
Running 13–15 June 2025, the weekend is timed to coincide with ‘Jackalope Day’—a bizarre annual celebration held in Douglas, Wyoming, honouring the mythical antlered rabbit that inspired the hotel’s name. Naturally, Jackalope has taken this eccentricity and run with it, crafting a weekend that blends whimsy with luxury, and ritual with rebellion.
It all begins on a suitably superstitious Friday the 13th, when the cocktail wizards from Starward Whisky team up with Jackalope’s bar Flaggerdoot for a whisky masterclass that promises less lecture, more liquid theatre. Over the weekend, Starward cocktails will flow from the bar’s mixologists, tailored and twisted for the occasion. Think: smoky, stirred, and possibly mythical.
On Saturday, Yugen’s Chef Samuel Chee is set to descend on Jackalope’s flagship restaurant Doot Doot Doot. Known for his precision-led omakase menus at the moody South Yarra basement restaurant, Chee is bringing a high-concept, low-fuss attitude to a once-off collaboration dinner. The headline dish—roasted dry-aged duck with black garlic, shiso, and scallion pancake—reads like a haiku and eats like a fever dream. Expect texture, technique, and a menu that doesn’t pander to polite expectations.
Sunday brings a new flavour into the fold with ALT Pasta Bar, known for giving Italy a slight identity crisis. ALT’s head chef and owner, Mino Han, will take over the kitchen for lunch, bringing his genre-bending pastas with him. A standout? Squid ink spaghetti with spanner crab, basil oil and, just casually, pastrami. It’s pasta, but not as your nonna remembers it.
The extras aren’t just a footnote. Guests staying for the full weekend can expect a roster of playful touches designed to delight and disorient. Black and gold waffles in the morning, a roving cocktail trolley in the evening (yes, they’ll come to your door), and a Sunday night whisky session by the bonfire, overlooking the vineyard. The pièce de résistance: a Jackalope Pie—rabbit and venison, of course—available across the weekend and served with a wink and a nod to the beast itself.
But this isn’t all hedonism. There’s substance beneath the style, too. A public panel discussion will explore the origins of the hotel itself, bringing together founder Louis Li and the creative collaborators who helped shape Jackalope’s surrealist sensibility. From sculpture and lighting to architectural storytelling, the conversation will unpack how Jackalope came to feel less like a hotel and more like a lucid dream. Seats are limited, but the insights promise to linger longer than your Negroni.
For those who prefer a complete immersion, the Jackalope Weekend Package includes three nights’ accommodation, entry to all the major events, daily cocktails, tailored meals, and generous credit for anything extra that takes your fancy. It starts at $3,247 and can be booked online at jackalopehotels.com, or the old-fashioned way via phone.
Prefer to dip a toe rather than dive in? Individual event tickets—for the Starward masterclass, the Yugen collaboration dinner, and the ALT Pasta Bar lunch—are also available à la carte. But with Jackalope, half-measures are never really the point.
The surreal meets the spectacular this June in Merricks North. And for those tired of the usual wine-weekend rinse-and-repeat, Jackalope Weekend is your permission slip to go wonderfully off-script.
