The Parlour Wine Room is back. Well, achingly close to back. Come Saturday night, it will be full of customers as the popular tapas bar celebrates being back in business more than two years after fire tore through heritage-listed buildings of the New Acton Pavilion.

''It feels really good,'' owner Bria Sydney said of seeing the finish line in sight.

It is an exciting time for the local hospitality industry, with Jamie's Italian Canberra due to open in Bunda Street next week, with some movers and shakers getting a sneak peek this week.

One insider who partook at Jamie's this week said: ''The antipasto 'planks' were popular and desserts impressive. A steady stream of city workers were checking out the menus and asking when it was opening. It's bound to be very popular. Great to see a kids' menu free of chicken nuggets and ham and pineapple pizza.''

The reopened Parlour Wine Room, meanwhile, is the final piece in the puzzle of the devastating fire which brought the centre of Canberra to a standstill on June 23, 2011. The accidental blaze in one fell swoop managed to destroy both a valuable piece of the city's history as well as the cutting-edge businesses which occupied it.

Gone was the Parlour Wine Room, Flint Dining Room and office space for the Molonglo Group, which owns the building. Damaged, too, was the Diamant Hotel's restaurant Bicicletta, which was able to reopen within three months of the fire.

Groovy eatery A.Baker has since taken the place of Flint (chef Grant Kells went on to open Smoque in Bailey's Corner) and the Molonglo Group has reoccupied its offices.

Now comes the Parlour Wine Room, its reopening under the direction of Ms Sydney and general manager Sian Foster, both young mothers who have managed to entice back many of the original staff including well-known head chef Brad Warton and sommelier Peter Bell.

Ms Sydney, 30, has been busy

running her other businesses, Knightsbridge Penthouse and the Elk and Pea Eating House, both in Braddon. She co-owns them with parents Ross and Lynne Sydney and husband Ben McHugh.

She said in the days after the fire, she was unsure the Parlour Wine Room would reopen, with $1 million ultimately committed to its fit-out, not all of it covered by insurance.

''Probably initially when it first happened, because it seemed like such a daunting task. And then it took about a week and we had a good think about it, and we decided we would reopen,'' she said. ''One of the things that definitely did make me decide to reopen was the reaction of the public when it did burnt down and how people were so upset. We got so many emails and comments on Facebook; it was intense, how many comments we got.''

The feel of the place is similar to the luxurious decadence of the previous venue. The slight changes including a connection through to A.Baker and shared bathroom facilities downstairs, which has opened up more space for the wine room.

Mrs Foster said another factor was bringing the staff back together, with 25 people to work there. ''We had a nice little family here,'' she said.

Brad Warton was the chef when the Parlour Wine Room originally opened in 2008. He leapt at the chance to return to its kitchen, turning out contemporary Spanish fare, moving back to Canberra from the Gippsland region of Victoria.

''I suppose not everyone gets a second chance at a crack at a business,'' he said.

''It was Canberra's best tapas bar and we want to get it back up there. I'd do anything for Bria Sydney. She's a fantastic boss and she pretty much lets me do what I need to do.''

A coronial inquiry found the accidental fire started in the exhaust ductwork attached to Flint's pizza oven.