A recap of Canberra's restaurant scene in 2015

• Food & Wine's restaurant of the year

The growth continued in Canberra's restaurant scene this year. It was perhaps not quite as intense as the relentless spate of new eateries in 2014 but there was still plenty of movement.

Sasa Sestic is surely Canberra's food hero of the year with that huge effort to win the World Barista Championships. It was a great moment for Sestic personally and a testament to his generosity that he wanted to use the award to spread some Canberra love. Long may he reign. In a different vein, Anna and Gina Petridis got us Buzzfeed-style attention with their freakshakes at Manuka's Patissez, right next door to Sestic's ONA cafe.

Cool new ventures from established players started coming our way from December 2014. Michael and Peter Harrington opened Akiba, their modern Asian bar and restaurant, on Bunda Street. It's popular, buzzing and really lifted that end of Civic. Josiah Li and his team at the Chairman Group brought us a sleek, ultra-modern Japanese spot in Lilotang. Li has also closed his Sichuan eatery Malamay for a big refurbishment - look out for that reopening in 2016. Frank Condi and his partners at the CoCu Group closed La Scala in Civic and turned it into Provini, a cheeky little Italian. Pialligo Estate's Farmhouse restaurant made a big debut early in the year, picking up a coveted chef's hat within months of opening. The Garden Pavilions, which opened just weeks ago, also looks very pretty. Omar Muscat and his partners opened hot pizzeria Locale in Deakin and gave Urban Pantry a French-style makeover. After 40 years, the Catanzariti family turned stalwart Santa Lucia into Salotto, a new Kingston bar and eatery.

Another highlight of 2015 was the Night Noodle Markets hitting Canberra (yes, run by Fairfax, which also puts out Good Food). Enlighten was a perfect fit for the markets with the colourful light displays, the Asian street food, the nitrogen gelato. It wasn't without its problems - enormous queues as Canberra embraced the markets with enthusiasm (and later cranky tweets). And it would be great to see our Asian street food venues show a little support for an event that's in turn supporting the capital.

Two Before Ten's Chris Dennis should take a bow for the Aranda shops project - a brilliant example of community-minded redevelopment, with the coffee roasters, the cafe and bar all opening this year and more to come. At the East Hotel, we saw two great new eateries joining Ox - bookshop restaurant Muse was a shot in the arm for our cafe and literary scene while Joe's Bar was quirky and eclectic. XO Restaurant opened in Narrabundah - a shiny modern Asian joint run by four Canberra lads. The Drawing Room brightened Crace's dining scene. Joelle Bou-Jaoude and Sascha Brodbeck expanded the Brodburger empire to Sydney with a new BrodDogs location. There were new bars aplenty - the Highball Express, White Rabbit, the Hutch.

Ice cream maestro John Marshall opened his much awaited dessert bar Mr Frugii in Braddon. Tetsuya Wakuda dropped into the capital at Three Seeds (for a private event). And fellow celebrity Christine Manfield can't get enough of Canberra - she came down in winter and is here again this week at eightysix, taking over the kitchen on December 2 and 3 for a special Indian and Bhutanese feast.

The Kennedy Room closed, to be replaced by Salotto. Latin American restaurant Mazorca opened in Kingston in January but shut its doors by the end of the year. In Manuka, former basketballer turned restaurateur Dave Nelson closed Francisco's, his much loved Mexican joint, but has recently reopened in Kingston. The Rum Bar has also shut its doors on the foreshore - it may be that the lakefront strip couldn't sustain three bars. Mecca Bah also closed in Manuka after a long run. The Artisan was sold in Narrabundah (one of the owners, David Black, joining CoCu as culinary director).

And Canberra kind of got all grown up with a real airport hotel, with its own restaurant Helix Bar and Dining again led by Mick Chatto who runs Chifley's Bar and Grill at the revamped Hotel Kurrajong. At Old Parliament House, new cafe Hoi Polloi brought some retro style.