00:01This restaurant's been so special for me over the years, you know, it's got so
00:04many of my memorable moments. I've been here from when I was seven years old,
00:08riding my bike around in the dirt patch that was here at the time, to going
00:13through all my milestones. I've had all my major birthdays here, I had my
00:1618th, my 21st, you know, I've met my wife here, I've, you know, my kids grew up
00:21here, so I'm gonna miss having the constant place that I can come to every
00:26morning. It's, I don't know, you know, what it's gonna be like not having the
00:30restaurant to come in and see. It's gonna be a strange feeling for me. Yeah,
00:35mixed emotions. I'm feeling a little bit anxious about closing tonight. That's,
00:40it's a strange feeling. I feel, I think I'm gonna shed a tear or two maybe later
00:44on, but I'm gonna try to do the rounds tonight and just say thank you to all
00:49our customers. We've got a lot of people coming in tonight to sort of, to see the
00:54restaurant off. And look, I'm, I think I'm gonna, I'm gonna shed a tear probably
00:58later on. It's been, it's been, you know, 40 years in the family, 20 years of my, or
01:0322 years of myself managing the restaurant. So I really did consider
01:08moving the restaurant to another venue possibly, but look, I'm just gonna take a
01:11break, give it 12 months possibly, you know, and see what happens. And look, maybe
01:17we'll pop up somewhere in the future. I'm not gonna say no, but you never know.
01:20So it's obviously the last day, which is a bit sad because myself and I think so
01:25many people in Wollongong would have had a memorable moment here. Like I remember
01:29coming here for long lunches with girlfriends, been here for weddings.
01:34And today I've had my last dessert, which is creme brulee. It's my favourite. And I think
01:38everyone has had some kind of special memory of the lagoon, even in the old
01:43building to the new building. And it's really sad that it's the last day.
01:47Very good. Now tell me, you've got your book here today. What have we got here?
01:51You got that signed by Andrew?
01:53Yeah, I did. So it's for obviously my mum in regards to hoping she will cook
01:58some of the memorable things that the lagoon has obviously made over the years.
02:03I'm hoping for the baby octopus and the creme brulee out of it, obviously. But I think, you know,
02:08Andrew and his family have done just an amazing job and the cookbook celebrates that.
02:14Well, there's lots of memories here. I am feeling sad. I think I will shed a tear or two.
02:20I also did my growing up here because early 30s I was and now I'm 74. So I've announced that
02:28to everybody.
02:29But it is a big, big part of my life and for my family and for the wider community.
02:35They all became friends. They supported us. And then we supported them in the community in sponsoring a lot of
02:43things.
02:43And it was just a wonderful experience. And we were so lucky to have had this restaurant and this venue
02:52for so long.
02:53And it was our baby. We built it. I'll be happy that it's an end of an era and we
03:01should have no regrets.
03:02We don't have regrets. But I will miss it. Of course, we'll miss it. And the family will miss it.
03:14Not all the action!
03:14Just one minute.
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