“Rather than creating a menu and doggedly sourcing the ingredients, we use ingredients as they are grown. By working closely with many small owner-operators, we forge rewarding relationships and educate staff on farm visits. We also use an electrolysed water-cleaning and sanitation system eWater to reduce the use of chemical cleaners.”

Crab, leek, and potato with daikon and charred cabbage dashi; charcoal eggplant, red miso, and furikake; and salt-baked beetroot, buttermilk, walnut, and tarragon

It’s the epitome of the luxe, no-expense-spared, five-course degustation winery restaurant, with an arresting installation of 10,000 globe lights designed to mimic the fermentation process leading onto views of rolling vines. And yet, the flagship restaurant at the Mornington Peninsula’s game-changing boutique hotel Jackalope, Doot Doot Doot is grounded in a winning sense of place courtesy of produce from the impressive on-site kitchen garden or from further afield in their peninsula “backyard”.

Potatoes from local heroes Torello Farm might be pimped into a luscious mash with bottarga and furikake to anchor the delicate sweetness of spanner crab, while full-flavoured Flinders mussels go the snack route with brown butter emulsion, finger lime, and seaweed powder.

The restaurant explores its Willow Creek Vineyard terroir, pressing its own verjuice, pickling vine leaves, and incorporating the complexity of Chardonnay lees into the daily bread.

“A must-do when on the Mornington Peninsula.”

Gourmet Traveller