Escape the hustle and bustle at QT’s new rooftop Secret Garden Bar
Let us tell you a little secret. There’s a new oasis in Melbourne, tucked away and accessed through a hotel kitchen. Although it has just opened its doors, now that the word is out, QT’s new Secret Garden Bar won’t be a clandestine watering hole for long.
Previously the private garden providing QT’s produce, the intimate 40-person space nestled behind Rooftop at QT has been revamped as a rooftop garden bar. The newly grafted space combines the best of both worlds right in the heart of the city.
Enter via a secluded back of house doorway in Portland Lane, take the lift and mosey through the kitchen. Step outside and absorb the industrial meets garden design. Wood planter boxes, steel finishes and concrete walls are offset by luscious green plants and fairy lights. The pièce de résistance is the colourful mural by local artist Ry Wilin, inspired by the 1800’s gin craze and representing the different characters and abstract characteristics of Melbourne CBD.
The impressive QT garden grows a vast variety of herbs and produce – you will discover everything from rosemary, mint and thyme to blue tongue, old man saltbush and cinnamon myrtle. If yearnings of a budding mixologist stir within, choose your own herbs to add to your gin to create your exclusive tipple. Or, order from the bespoke drinks menu, highlighting the flourishing partnership with renowned Victorian distillery Four Pillars.
A variety of Four Pillar’s gins are available, including a small-batch gin distilled exclusively for the the rooftop hideaway by Four Pillars Distiller and Co-Founder Cameron Mackenzie and QT Melbourne bar staff.
The unique gin-based cocktail menu is sure to please at the Secret Garden Bar at QT. Try the ‘Passion Killa’, featuring Four Pillars’ Bloody Shiraz Gin infused with sour passionfruit. The refreshing ‘Balayage’ is a quirky take on a Spritz, comprising Four Pillars Gin, stone fruit, ginger, raspberry and lemon myrtle.
The Spiced Negroni Four Pillars Gin with StrangeLove Very Mandarin Soda, Aperol, sour carrot and thyme sprouts the flavoursome “Little Sun” cocktail. The refreshing “Pea Brain” germinates from Navy Strength Four Pillars Fin, Bergamot, Snap Pears and lemon verbena. A range of beers, wines, bubbles and spirits can also be enjoyed.
A dedicated Secret Garden Bar menu prepared by Executive Chef Andy Harmer and Four Pillars Creative Director of Made from Gin, Matt Wilkinson, offers tasty snacks to compliment your beverages. Try the ‘Gin Pig Skewers’ with marmalade glaze, or the kingfish cured in Bloody Shiraz Gin. Finish with delectable marshmallow skewers dipped in gin-chocolate fondue.
The Secret Garden Bar at QT is open every Thursday and Friday from 5pm. Be sure to plant the seed in your friends’ minds to check it out this summer. After all, what’s better than a relaxing garden sanctuary with city-skyline views on a warm night? But don’t fret – there is no need to make your way stealthily into the venue now that the secret is out.
Enjoy a classic and quirky take on the Old Fashioned cocktail? Check out Woodford Reserve this November