Before Eat Happy gets swept up in the festive spirit (because Christmas food is the best food and as of next week I’ll be doing nothing but chain baking mince pies) it’s time to celebrate Cardiff – because it’s had a really strong foodie run this year. Restaurants, pop-ups, campaigns and brands have been launched almost every week, and the city has been buzzing with brilliant new enterprises and ideas. So as exciting events simmer in the run-up to 2015, I thought I’d pull together some of Cardiff’s biggest culinary wins for this year. 1) A Brave New (chain) World There’s really something of the New World about Cardiff these days. In the past few months the city has seen a fleet of niche restaurant chains come steaming out of London to plant their flags around city centre, instead of chartering a Northern course to bigger more predictable cities like Manchester or Birmingham. Burger and Lobster, an upmarket chain that serve surf and turf at a fixed price of £20, will be throwing open their doors to Cardiff on December 12 – their first restaurant outside of London and the USA. You’ll be able to find their new restaurant in The Hayes, directly upstairs from Cardiff’s newest Miller & Carter’s Steakhouse. Wales Online recently had a sneak peek inside the joint before opening day: and it’s looking swish.

Iconic US Burger chain Five Guys is on the way: they caused a twitter flurry in September when they announced the setting up of their first Welsh branch in Cardiff – although there’s been no hint yet of when they will officially open up shop. And planting its first flag outside London, Mexican Street Food chain Wahaca built up hype with free taco handouts and sneak peeks of the restaurant, before celebrating a very successful November launch. ‘The tidiest tacos on the ‘Taff’ have been doing a roaring trade ever since.

2) Sustainable City The Wahaca hype isn’t just about free tacos though- the chain also has a massive commitment to being a sustainable business. They’re all about minimising the environmental impact of their food, and take great care in sourcing and working with high-quality local ingredients. I recently chatted to food blogger Jane Cook, a.k.a the Hungry City Hippy, about Wahaca, and you can listen to her take on the restaurant in the soundbite below. Jane writes a lot about sustainability and ethical eating in her blog Hungry City Hippy: which has enjoyed a huge run of success this year. In July it was featured in The Guardian as the sustainable blog of the week, and it won both Best Food Blog, and Best New Blog in the 2014 Wales Blog Awards.

Sustainability has been de rigueur this year, and one of the biggest sustainable shout-outs came in November, when Cardiff made a pledge to become the first sustainable fish city in the UK. Promoting healthy living and ethical food sourcing, Food Cardiff has pledged to serve thousands of sustainable fish meals to schools and hospitals. “There is a genuine desire amongst the Food Cardiff Council and the partners in the wider Food Cardiff Community to make food better for Cardiff’s people and the planet, ” said Katie Palmer, Sustainable Food Cities Co-Ordinator. “This creates a brilliant atmosphere for change.” It’s a big motion to put in place, and I’m really curious to see how it develops through 2015. You can learn more about the campaign on the sustainable fish cities website. 3) Take it To the Streets

You can’t talk about food in Cardiff this year without touching on Street Feast Cardiff. Prior to the last twelve months Cardiff’s street food scene had been more or less in hibernation. Extensive council prohibitions prevented independent traders from selling their wares on the vast majority of the city’s pedestrianised streets, and the food culture was primarily chain-centric. But 2014 saw the birth of Street Food Cardiff: a collective of street food traders looking to revolutionise the city’s mainstream dining culture, who collaborated with space The Depot to run a two-month long popup event. Every Friday and Saturday since the end of October, the abandoned industrial estate has filled with vendors, DJs, and thousands of people out to sample their high-end street fare. “We’re bored of bland chains and corporates and want great quality food without paying for the white table cloth,” their website claims – and they’ve clearly tapped into something.

“As people we have always naturally been attracted to the DIY aesthetic, and a high-street alternative,” said Simon Thomas, organiser of Street Feast Cardiff. The event will leave you spoilt for choice on what to eat, with some brilliant brands on offer – although if I had to point you towards anyone I’d suggest Dirty Bird, a fried chicken van that captured international attention earlier this year with its eye-popping logo. They’re a regular feature at the event, alongside Chuck’s Burgers, Hangfire Smokehouse, and Bangkok Café – not to mention Burger and Lobster, who spent the last two weekends previewing at The Depot before the launch of their restaurant proper. “I just think it answers a call that people have been wanting in the city which is an antithesis to the high street,” Simon comments. “In some ways we are referencing trends that are going on, but I don’t think it’s trend-led what we’ve ended up with, it’s taste led.” While keeping his cards close to his chest, he hinted that there are big plans afoot both for Chuck’s Burgers and Haute Dogs in 2015. If you’re around Cardiff but have somehow failed to make it down to the Depot yet, get down there before the season ends on December 31. The Christmas Market on December 23rd promises to be particularly special! Keep an eye on their Facebook Page for more event info, and have a listen to the YouTube below to hear more from Simon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJeZ7g339EA For the moment at least, this concludes the 2014 round-up. Cardiff, I can’t wait to see what you’re going to do next! Now I’m going out for a massive burrito, because all this food chat has made me hungry.