Machiavelli, Sydney CBD

Machiavelli is a classic Italian restaurant that has been open for 37 years since 1988. It is a popular restaurant for politicians and business people to make deals, enjoy classic Italian dishes and a large wine list. The last time I ate at Machiavelli was so long ago that I can't even guess at the year. Back then I was having lunch with my crazy, paranoid boss and politician Kym Beazley was sitting across the room. It was during lunchtime and I was one of the few women in the room and everyone was suited up. I was struck by that but also by the very tasty traditional Italian food we were eating. Find out what it is like now.

Machiavelli was my suggestion. Unfortunately I'm running 7 minutes late to meet Sophia who is early so I don't have a chance to explain why we are sitting underneath a painting of Scott Morrison or why there are paintings of pollies and media identities like Alan Jones on the walls. The restaurant is named after villainous philosopher and politician Niccolò Machiavelli which seems rather appropriate.

Machiavelli, if I haven't made it clear, isn ot like any other restaurant. The waiter tells us that it opened 37 years ago and this basement level restaurant was only open for lunch Monday to Friday. They attracted politicians and business people who would broker massive deals over 7 hour lunches. As long as the expense accounts were paying for food and wine, they stayed open to accommodate these heavyweights.

It's Friday dinner time when Sophia and I visit so the crowd is more mixed. Service is nice and they don't pressure us to order a lot and they ask if we just want mains or just pasta.

I really wanted the figs wrapped in prosciutto but Sophia doesn't like figs and loves scallops so we start with these. They're Canadian scallops served with chargrilled capsicum on cauliflower puree and Persian feta. It's a nice dish with plenty of enormous scallops but honestly I wish we had just ordered the figs.

Sophia is a very particular eater and her list of dislikes is perhaps longer than her list of likes. She doesn't like chilli so we ask for it on the side. This is a tagliatelle pasta served with king prawns, mushrooms with chili, basil and garlic in a light bisque sauce. The tagliatelle is thinly rolled and delicate and there's a good amount of curled up prawns in this but we both agree that because we messed with the original recipe by requesting chilli on the side that it may have made it less exciting.

We both adore the pappardelle duck ragu with big pieces of the softest duck meat in a madeira sauce with thyme and cherry tomatoes and wide, thinly rolled ribbons of pappardelle pasta. I especially like this with some of the hot chilli added. We use the crusty baguette to scarpetta the sauce.

We were so full by this time that we considered cancelling the saltimbocca but I really wanted to have this little blast from the past. It's veal scalloppini with mozzarella, thin ham and a Madeira and sage sauce. It comes with a side of creamed spinach and potato gratin. I'm glad we didn't cancel this because I really enjoy the flavours and the tender veal. It's a sizeable portion, there's no way we can finish this but I end up eating a lot of this. The wine goes well with this course.

It's dessert time! The crème brulee is Sophia's choice. With a thick toffee layer on top and a creamy vanilla cream below it's a classic. It comes with a beautifully short shortbread biscotti on the side.

Try as I might, I can't resist the tiramisu, all light coffee liqueur flavour and layer of savioardi sponge fingers. It's made with house made mascarpone and really hits the spot.