The way we want to eat today is characterised by the dateless food and wine combinations, that for generations have characterized the Italian diet, with an emphasis on seasonal fruits, vegetables, fish and grain and, of course, the healthy benefits of olive oil. More costly and richer ingredients such as meats and cheeses are used largely as flavouring rather than the main ingredients.

Italian cuisine is not only highly regional, but is also distinguished by its seasonality and the high priority placed on the use of fresh produce.

In Sydney, we have a wide selection of Italian restaurants ranging from small pizzerias to grander, more upmarket city restaurants. But usually the concentration will be on what was fresh at the market that morning – so the specials' board is always worth checking out.

Sydney has pockets of wonderful Italian restaurants concentrated around Leichhardt and Haberfield. In these areas you have everything from small bakeries exuding enticing smells and behind swinging plastic curtain strips you encounter emporia dedicated to all things Italian from soap powder to that elusive ingredient for the recipe you have been meaning to try for years.

After exploring the shops, time perhaps to have lunch or coffee and canoli at one of the many Italian restaurants.

Some of Sydney's finest restaurants and one of Sydney's institutions, base their menus on Italian regional cuisine mainly of the north. For one of the best Italian restaurants in City, one place springs to mind. With is discrete and enticing entrance on Clarence Street, Machiavelli is just the place to enjoy either a quick or long lunch. The food apart of which more later – there is just so much to look at. The first thing that strikes you is the buzz. Portraits of the movers and shakers of Australia adorn the walls and then there is the centrepiece of the room – the anti-pasto bar – laden with beautifully prepared fresh seasonal produce. Glistening olives, crisp greens and little nuggets of spicy meats along with the lushest avocadoes you have ever seen.

The open to view kitchen is run and overseen with precision. In between watching the kitchen, identifying who is who on the walls, and also if any of them might be sitting at a nearby table, observing the team of waiters as the move efficiently between the tables. Balancing plates of veal, pasta and glorious deserts, darting in their bright white shirts and long black aprons they transport you to an Italian restaurant somewhere but not Sydney.

Now that Machiavelli's is open for dinner, it the perfect venue for a night out Machiavelli's great location in downtown Sydney makes it the Italian restaurant of choice for a pre-or post theatre anti-pasto plate or on a cold night a bowl of creamy gnocchi. And they do make a good negroni.

Machiavelli's Italian restaurant is also available for private functions catering for up to 200 people. The ideal city location for anything from an intimate birthday party to a corporate marketing launch.