Bar M (formerly known as Bar Machiavelli) in Rushcutters Bay is offering a selection of light pasta dishes for the warm months ahead.
The cavernous space at 10 Neild Avenue in Rushcutters Bay has had a chequered history when it comes to the dining scene. The former tyre factory from the 1930s was reborn as Marchetti’s Neild Avenue and later as Rushcutters by the Keystone Group. In 2016, the venue launched as Bar Machiavelli when Paola Toppi, of Machiavelli restaurant in the CBD took over. A change of name later, it became Bar M.
Head chef and owner Paola Toppi began her career in 1988, joining her mother and legendary Sydney restaurateur Giovanni Toppi, where she taught her the art of managing a successful business while cooking Italian dishes. The two culinary leaders went to open Machiavelli Ristorante in Clarence Street, where Paola took the role at Head Chef, and thereafter went to head numerous restaurants across Sydney.
The beverages at Bar M are designed to complement the venue’s Italian focus and includes a range of drinks with Select Aperitivo, the original Italian spritz from 1920 including Select Spritz, Select Negroni and Select Old Fashioned.
The food focus at Bar M is on antipasto and Southern-Italian inspired house-made pastas with a selection of light pasta dishes for the warm months ahead. Rich dishes with heavy creams are replaced with a light and fresh touch, making use of the juices from the ingredients used in summer dishes.
Antipasti includes dishes such as Baked Figs with prosciutto, Roquefort and Gorgonzola cheese sauce; Ribbons of beetroot over fresh burrata, baby spinach and toasted pine nuts.
Pasta dishes include Gnocchetti Scampi, Baby gnocchi and scampi with a medley of herbs, cherry tomato and lemon zest and the vegetarian Fettucine Porcini served on a bed of basil pesto with sautéed Porcini and Pecorino cheese. More substantial dishes include the Wagyu Eye Fillet alla Pizzaiola served alongside seasonal vegetables and twice cooked duck fat potatoes.
Bar M will soon a younger sibling when Toppi Martin Place opens as an Italian late-night restaurant in the CBD.
Bar M
Address: 10 Neild Ave Rushcutters Bay
Website: bar-m.com.au
Photos supplied