Sydney CBD icon Machiavelli enters administration as debts top $1.4m
Famed Sydney CBD institution Machiavelli Ristorante has landed in administration, with a new report outlining more than $1.4 million in debts for the long-running Clarence St venue.
Administrators have been appointed to Machiavelli, the restaurant long known as a meeting spot for high-profile business and political figures, after it was handed over in December. Staff were terminated following a meeting held on December 23.
Only a week earlier, the restaurant had told customers it would shut for its “seasonal break” before returning on Saturday January 17. Since then, it has gone quiet, with bookings closed, phone lines disconnected and administrators Lowe Lippmann calling for “urgent offers” to sell the business.
No sale price was attached to the campaign, although the advertisement said 2025 revenue was “circa $3.5 million”.
A report released yesterday puts total liabilities at more than $1.4 million. Staff are owed $309,000, while the Australian Taxation Office is listed as the largest creditor with $420,000 outstanding. Business lenders, including NAB and Amex, are owed $358,000, and 75 trade creditors are owed a combined $333,320.
On the asset side, the report lists $434,000 in alcohol, plant and equipment.
Machiavelli was opened in 1998 by Giovanna Toppi and built a reputation through the 1980s and 90s as a favourite for power lunches, with regulars said to include Kerry Packer, John Laws, Grahame Richardson, John Howard and Paul Keating. The dining room’s portraits became part of its lore, as the restaurant gained a name for deals and political plotting over long lunches.
In 2016, Toppi’s daughter Caterina sold the venue, along with the brand, menu and recipes, to Nicolae Bicher, a former Romanian who represented Australia in judo at the 1984 Olympic Games.
Bicher and Son Pty Ltd, the company that owns Machiavelli, is the entity that has been placed into receivership last month.
Administrator Gideon Rathner of Lowe Lippmann was contacted for comment on the sale process and whether the venue might reopen, but did not respond by publication.
Jonathan Jackson, 27th January 2026
