Dinner for One

How Cooking in Paris Saved Me

By: Sutanya Dacres

Narrated by: Imani Jade Powers

From podcast host Sutanya Dacres comes Dinner for One, an unforgettable memoir of how she rebuilt her life after her American-in-Paris fairy tale shattered, starting with cooking dinner for herself in her Montmartre kitchen

When Sutanya Dacres married her French boyfriend and moved to Paris at twenty-seven, she felt like she was living out her very own Nora Ephron romantic comedy. Jamaican-born and Bronx-raised, she had never dreamed she herself could be one of those American women in Paris she admired from afar via their blogs, until she met the man of her dreams one night in Manhattan. A couple of years later, she married her Frenchman and moved to Paris, embarking on her own “happily-ever-after.” But when her marriage abruptly ended, the fairy tale came crashing down around her.

Reeling from her sudden divorce and the cracked facade of that picture-perfect expat life, Sutanya grew determined to mend her broken heart and learn to love herself again. She began by cooking dinner for one in her Montmartre kitchen. Along the way, she builds Parisienne friendships, learns how to date in French, and examines what it means to be a Black American woman in Paris—all while adopting the French principle of pleasure, especially when it comes to good food, and exploring what the concept of self-care really means.

Brimming with charm, humor, and hard-won wisdom, Sutanya's story takes you on an adventure through love, loss, and finding where you truly belong, even when it doesn’t look quite how you expected.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Sutanya Dacres (P)2022 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited

An Interesting Woman, a great story

I loved listening to the memoir Dinner for One by Sutanya Dacres. The Sub-title, How Cooking in Paris Saved Me was fitting, as it seemed cooking her own dinners for one helped her find her place in Paris and reconnect with her heart and soul.

Discussing this book, we could delve into the “American in Paris” dream, vs The realities of a Black American Woman in Paris. the Authors writing really helped bring the realities to light.
Sutanya writes so vividly about her struggles with feelings of hopelessness and loss. The attempt to fill a void in her soul with one-night love affairs, casual sex and too much drinking were with her before she met TFM, and then again after they split.
Thinking back, remembering how I have dealt with these feelings in my own past and whether or not I turned to the apéros. Did I then -or would I now?
The dream of moving to Europe has passed through all our minds, but has that dream been a way to escape our present? We would, after all, be bringing ourselves and our fears with us on the journey. Do we understand the complexities of becoming an expat? And then to add a dying relationship to our fish out of water feeling, would we fail or succeed?

The recipes in the back of the book are wonderful I succeeded in making a lovely cheese platter and an attempt was made at that very first dish, the roasted chicken and fingerling potatoes and, of course, a champagne lavender cocktail!

Raw and Relatable

This story was well told and hits home. A deep look at a woman that loses herself and finds it.

Inspiring, heartfelt story. 

Enjoyed this biography about love loss and finding yourself in Paris. Beautifully written, inspiring, and narrator was very nice to listen to.