From podcast host Sutanya Dacres comes Dinner for One, an unforgettable memoir of how she rebuilt her life after her American-in-Paris fairytale 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 entertained fantasies of living abroad until she met the Frenchman of her dreams, and voilà, she herself became one of those American women in 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 picture-perfect expat facade, Sutanya decided to figure out for herself what happens after the Paris fairy tale ends. Determined to find a way to mend her broken heart and learn to love herself again, Sutanya began to cook 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.
Reviews for Dinner for One
“An anti-fairytale that’s all the more enthralling for being representative, raw and real….Sutanya in Paris is so much greater than Emily in Paris.”
— Lauren Collins, author of When in French: Love in a Second Language
“This is a brave and honest tale of heartbreak, hope, and reinvention. In taking the reader along on her winding path back to joy, Dacres invites everyone to consider just how much cooking, no matter where in the world one might be, can be an act of self-love and preservation.”
— Lindsey Tramuta, journalist and author of The New Paris and The New Parisienne
“A new take on self-care, Sutanya’s journey will take lucky readers on an intercontinental voyage in food, love, loss, and rediscovery in her debut memoir.”
— Zibby Owens, from her "Good Morning America" column
“Dacres is at her best when indulging readers in her culinary experiences—particularly the cathartic act of cooking solo that, post-divorce, allows her to heal… Those craving a hopeful comeback story will find much to savor.”
— Publishers Weekly
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