Machiavelli, London WC2, restaurant review S had the tuna tartare (£10), which was very pretty, with sprigs of large-leafed red cress draped about the plate like tired débutantes, and a fennel cream underneath the fish that brought a complicated freshness to a very edible tartare. There was some avocado in there as well, which underlined the subtle, mild intentions. I liked it. He carried on with the creamy risotto, with a rather punchy gorgonzola, some walnuts and radicchio (£12). This was really interesting, a trio of sharp, complicated ingredients, mellowed by their bed of risotto, so that you could enjoy them without the slightly punitive aspect they have on their own. Mine was the runaway favourite, however - a braised rabbit (£14) with olives, tomatoes, capers and spinach gnocchetti, which, some of you will have guessed, was like gnocchi only even tastier - the size and colour of broad beans, in a creamy but never squelchy sauce. The meat was rich but smooth, mellow and tender (considering how active the blighters are). S had rather a comical bread and butter pudding (£5) shaped into a perfect round, drizzled with chocolate, adorned with a cheffy scoop of crème fraîche, a rather homely sort of pudding, rendered all fancy. It was good, especially in texture, the set of the egg custard having a near-perfect wobble, and the bread in that wonderful twilight state where it's almost given up on being a solid. I had tiramisu (£5) because people always talk about it as the litmus test of any restaurant aspiring to Italianation; this only works, of course, if you have a tiramisu everywhere you go, and I remembered halfway through that I don't. It was a good, floppy, traditional pudding, not too boozy, not too sweet, fairly moreish but a bit dusty on the finish (thanks to the cocoa on top). You'd consider yourself a winner to find Machiavelli in any area, but in territory so treacherous you'd have got seriously lucky. Silversmiths 111 Arundel Street, Sheffield (0114 270 6160) Just five minutes from The Crucible complex, this stylish former cutlery works is ideal for a pre-performance supper of smoked pork belly with black-pudding potato cake and gooseberry purée (£24.95 for three courses) Gamba 225A West George Street, Glasgow (0141 572 0899) A superior seafood restaurant that makes the most of its prime location in Glasgow's theatre district by offering an early-evening, three-course menu for £19.95, including a glass of wine. Try the fish soup with prawn dumplings, followed by teriyaki organic salmon, then perhaps chocolate and amaretto mousse. Riverstation The Grove, Bristol (0117 914 4434) Bristol Old Vic is just across the water from this big and bright harbourside café, bar and restaurant. Before taking in a play head here for chargrilled lamb, heritage carrots and artichoke gratin (£18)