The 10 best things to happen in food this year: 10–6

It's been a big year in food in Australia, with Sydney stealing the crown from Melbourne for hottest dining destination. Here are our top ten most exciting things to happen in the Aussie food scene this year: ranked.

10 - Pinbone reborn

When Sydney's Pinbone restaurant closed in 2015, we were sad. I mean, the dinners were one thing, but what about their famous brunch? No more. Gone. Skedaddled. So we thank all that is holy that chefs Jemma Whiteman and Mike Eggert are back, having relaunched a Good Luck Pinbone pop-up in a new locale in October this year. And, in a bold move that recalls their days at Billy Kwong, the restaurant joins Merivale's latest restaurant, Queen Chow, with a Chinese focus. Good Luck Pinbone is set to be open for at least nine months.

9 - Uncle Tetsu came to town

It happened like lightening. One minute, we were all just wafting through life, eating regular cheesecake–baked and dense, creamy and rich. And then Japan's cult cheesecake landed in Australia in July. Uncle Tetsu was set to change everything. OK, not everything–but the texture is more akin to a wobbly sponge than a cheesecake, with the eggy flavour of pancakes. Some people weren't into it at all. But that didn't stop thousands queuing round the block on Sydney's George Street to be the first to get their hands on one.

8 - Australians abroad

This was the year that Australian restaurateurs went to Tokyo. Sydney's Greek restaurant The Apollo was first, opening up in March. It's now often referred to as the best Greek restaurant in the city. Bills' has been there for some time, already boasting three restaurants in the city (and six in Japan) but in October they opened a chic new outlet in Ginza. And soon it will time for Sydney and Melbourne's Longrain restaurant to reveal it's delicious interpretation of Thai cuisine to Japan too, with the opening of Longrain Yebisu in Tokyo in early 2017.

7 - Prejudice, be gone!

Pauline Hanson does a darn good job of rubbing most of us up the wrong way. So we couldn't help but applaud Sydney's vegan restaurant Soul Burger for inventing Hanson's Halal earlier this year—a vegan (and therefore halal by default) Halal Snack Pack. It was a brilliant, peaceful and cruelty-free way to expose the ridiculousness of her crusade against halal foods. If you don't want to eat them, just don't order them.

Hanson's halal snack pack

6 - Embla stole our hearts

When the team behind the Town Mouse opened a new place to eat, they had our attention. When that included a chef formerly of Supernormal, we were beside ourselves. Embla opened properly in Melbourne in January this year. It's a wine bar-cum-restaurant, with an emphasis on natural drops. Most of the menu is cooked out of the onsite wood-fired oven – which seems to be the way to cook in 2016 (see Fred's and Firedoor).

Watch this space to find out what the top five best things in food for 2016 are…