The Gin Garden at MCA

Overview

Gin! Whimsy! Harbour views! These exclamations and crisp local gin cocktails can be yours this summer, as the Museum of Contemporary Art and Archie Rose open a Grayson Perry-inspired pop-up gin garden. The Gin Garden will be a shady oasis with harbour views from December 4, coinciding with the MCA’s Sydney International Art Series huge exhibition Grayson Perry: My Pretty Little Art Career.

Dubbed "the ultimate celebration of British eccentricity with a twist of Antipodean flair" by the MCA team, the Gin Garden will see a range of innovative cocktails and jugs made with native ingredients and the Signature Dry Gin by Rosebery's Archie Rose — Sydney's first distillery in 160 years. Keep it simple with The Ultimate G&T (gin and Fever-tree Indian tonic) or get a little more British with The Rose Garden (gin, Earl Grey tea, ginger beer & Roses English marmalade), Channel Enid Blyton with The Faraway Tree (gin, Campari, sweet vermouth and wattleseed cola) or keep it real with a Straight-Laced Lemonade (gin or Archie Rose Original Vodka, smoked lemonade, lemon myrtle and soda water).

Young Henrys also launched their own Noble Cut gin this year, but they'll be bringing more of their beloved craft beers to the table — in tinny form — and there's a solid wine menu of Australian and New Zealand slam-dunks. They'll be paired with a garden-friendly menu, from South Coast rock oysters with gin, tonic and cucumber to zucchini and haloumi fritters with juniper pangritata and all the ploughmans platters in between, so prepare your palate for new and glorious adventures in taste.

In addition to snacking and slurping in the garden, of course, you should check out Grayson Perry's highly anticipated exhibition, the first major survey in the southern hemisphere of the works of one of Britain’s most acclaimed contemporary artists. It'll run from December 10 to May 1.

The Gin Garden opens at MCA from December 4 to early February. Open Thursdays to Sundays, 4pm to late. Free entry.