Nina Manchester Sunderland was born in Tiverton in 1905, the daughter of Marion and Arthur Manchester of King Road. She left school in the eighth grade, worked at the Acoaxet Club in Westport, and then became a domestic in the New York area. She met George Sunderland at a party at her brother’s house while she was working in Fall River as a cook for the Bowen Family. Later, they both worked at the Stone Bridge Inn, (she as head cook), and they married in 1940. They had one daughter, Martha. In the mid 1940’s, they decided to buy the former Clark Chase estate on Main Road and turn it into Sunderland’s Restaurant, which opened in 1948. Sunderland’s became a popular venue for weddings, showers, banquets, and other important life events. Every year the restaurant closed on January 2 and reopened on Palm Sunday. Nina and George spent that time at their home in Florida.
Nina was a talented chef, and could reproduce almost any dish. Her specialties included Chicken Maryland and Baked Stuffed Shrimp. In fact, Sunderland’s was the first restaurant in the area to feature Baked Stuffed Shrimp after Nina tasted the dish in New York and reproduced it for her own restaurant. Sunderland’s employed so many local people over the decades (1948 to the late 1980’s) that George used to say if they were placed end to end, they would circle the equator!
Biography and image provided by Tiverton Historical Society
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