WELL, you have to admit the renovated Nardinis was worth waiting for.

The directors, John Fox, David Equi and Sep Marini kept us on tenterhooks for about three years in a will they, won"t they cliffhanger.

I have never known a story which ran and ran with so many headlines of "Nardinis to open in....." fill in the blank.

They have done a magnificent job, especially when you consider the economic constraints on businesses.

It is a merging of the art deco style in a modernistic setting which surely makes it the finest and most attractive cafeteria in Britain.

At the moment, to be honest, it is quite difficult to get served..even seated...at certain times but if you had told the investors that they would be turning people away they would have hugged you.

I would predict that the staffing system witnessed in these early weeks will be revamped considerably by next Easter and the directors anticipate that the long winter months from January to April will be the real test of the cafe and restaurant"s popularity.

However, it is well done to everyone involved in re-creating the institution which is, once again, the flagship of Largs tourist appeal.

As I look back on the year it has been the classic newspaper adage of "hatch, match and despatch." My daughter Sarah gave birth to her first child, Josh, and then I tied the matrimonial knot after 18 years. I told the wedding party that my old dad always said, 'you don"t want to rush things.' Little did I know that two months later the old man would pass over to join my mother in that great dance hall in the sky.

As I reported last week my beloved News office in Lade Street closes in January so you"ll forgive me if I make no predictions for 2009.