Bar Machiavelli opens at an historic tyre factory site on Sydney’s Neild Avenue on Thursday 7 April. Paola Toppi, of the original Machiavelli in Sydney’s CBD, will run the warehouse-style site in Rushcutters Bay.
The management team includes Tatiana Simplicio, who previously worked with Nicole Galloway at Fei Jai, and Matteo Belkeziz, who has worked behind the bar at The Barber Shop, Rockpool Bar & Grill and Palmer & Co.
A changing selection of antipasti and homemade pastas will be made on-site in a glass pasta room, while Belkeziz’s cocktail list is inspired by Italian classics, using typically Mediterranean ingredients to create seasonal cocktails with a twist. The list includes the prince vs the count, a barrel aged negroni with grappa, and la dolce vita, using prosecco with strawberry, orange and lychee. Bar Machiavelli will also have a monthly bellini and a dedicated dessert cocktail menu, including a tiramisu martini.
“We feel this is how Sydneysiders want to enjoy Italian: fun, high energy, but still drawing on the classic cooking principles and well-loved dishes," said Toppi.
The venue is designed to be fun and casual, with a long metallic gold-clad bar at the centre of the restaurant and a mix of large and small tables for drinking and dining. It will seat up to 160 drinkers and diners, across the cocktail and bar area and dining room.
Designer Jason Mowen has used rich, renaissance-inspired colours for the interiors to speak to
the heritage of Italian food and culture, and to compliment the exposed beams and brick of the
warehouse space. At the heart of the design will be references to the Toppi family and the history
of Italian food, but with a modern, updated approach.
"I've played on the grandeur of the space, instead of being afraid of its scale, the design
embraces it, " says Mowen. "From the huge, classically-inspired mural to the sculptural, low slung gold bar and the red leather banquettes, each element would stand out on its own but
comes together to make for an industrial and highly-textured interior."
Bar Machiavelli will open 6pm-12am Monday to Friday and 4pm-12am on Saturdays.
