Through many generations, one heard at the dinner table "if you don't like what's on your plate, you can go to The Sullivan House."  

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It was never really known whether this was a good or bad thing.  Was it an orphanage?  Was it a real neighbor?  Did it really exist?

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Nancy knew that if she ever did something in the restaurant/cookbook/catering arena, it would be called The Sullivan House.

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So, when the bakery became something real...researching the history of this veiled threat became important.  Come to find out through family conversations that The Sullivan House was a real residence on Beacon Hill in Boston.

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Multiple generations before, her great-great-grandfather would say at the dinner table to his wife and 5 children "If I don't like what I'm served, I'll just go to The Sullivan House."  

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In the late 1700s The Sullivan House was built by Hepzibah Swan (and her two business partners.)  This partnership basically built Beacon Hill.  In this era, a woman in a partnership like this was unheard of.  Hepzibah built homes for each of her three daughters.  Sarah Swan married John Sullivan and their home became known as the swankiest place on Beacon Hill for great parties, dancing, free-flowing liquor, etc. in the early 1800s!  15 Chestnut Street in Boston is The Sullivan House.  

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It was highly unlikely that Nancy's great-great-grandfather, a resident of West Roxbury, would have been welcomed.  However, he did have fine taste.  

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So, just go to The Sullivan House.