Dinner for One is a heartfelt and introspective novel that tackles themes of love, loss, and self-discovery with sensitivity and depth. Sutanya Dacres' poignant storytelling, rich character development, and evocative writing make it a compelling read. Readers who enjoy introspective narratives and stories of personal growth will find "Dinner for One" to be a thought-provoking and satisfying literary journey. Although it was a bit slow at parts I enjoyed the book overall.

I am always happy to read these food influenced memoirs because I am a recipe developer and surround myself with food all the time! In this book the author was shocked by her divorce and had to pick up the pieces. At least she got to do it in Montmartre, right? I liked reading about what it was like being an immigrant to France and deciding to stay after divorcing a French person.

I was disappointed and puzzled by the lack of actual cooking and food in the book. It's really nearly over before she picks up a spoon. I guess food books sell but I wouldn't have marketed it this way.

I think I maybe misunderstood the purpose of the book. I thought there would be much more food-related entries but it was really a retelling of her meeting her husband and then their divorce. I think she talked about food in the last 1/4 of the book so it felt a bit long-winded to me. Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I enjoy most foodie memoirs/biographies. If y’all haven’t read and of Ruth Reichl’s series of growing up and working around food, I highly recommend them. They are simply wonderful, as is the one novel she wrote, “Delicious.”

I thought I was getting kind of the same things when I picked up “Dinner for One: How Cooking in Paris Saved Me.” Well, I read, and read, and read, and read, and read. Took me almost a month to finish this book. I was bound and determined to finish it and find that nugget that would have made it all worthwhile. The book contained almost one hundred pages of recipes, so I just knew that it would be unputdownable.

I was wrong. It starts out well enough, with Dacres meeting her husband, who is only referred to TFM (The French Man) through all 352 pages, in the New York. They had a long distant relationship for three years before they married. Dacres left everything and everybody she knew and loved to move to Paris.

The honeymoon didn’t seem to last long. Dacres knew no one in Paris, didn’t know her way around, and barely spoke the language. I would have thought that she would try to learn the basics before she moved to Paris, but she didn’t. French is not an easy language to learn, and Dacres didn’t seem that interested. TFM had his own set of friends, was a native Parisian, and a job. Dacres seemed alone most of the time.

Readers must watch Dacres and TFM’s marriage fall apart for more than two thirds of the book. It got old after a while. Normally I would have bailed, but I was really waiting for the good part. Mostly after Dacres and TFM separated we had to watch as she drank too much and had a series of one-night stands.

She does decide that she is spending too much of her time trashed and starts cooking, but it is too little too late. There isn’t much about cooking in this memoir and not a mention of the recipes that she includes. I was extremely disappointed in this narrative, and equally as irritated at myself for hanging on to the very last word, especially since it put me seven books behind toward my Goodreads goal. Therefore “Dinner for One: How Cooking in Paris Save Me” receives 1 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

As a foodie and a lover of Paris, I was excited to dive into Dinner for One. This is the true story of Sutanya Dacres, a Jamaican-American woman who fell in love with a Frenchman and, after sustaining a long-distance relationship for a few years, moved to Paris, got married, and assumed she would live happily ever after. The wonderful, magical Parisian life she dreamed of was actually more like a nightmare at times. She had trouble navigating cultural differences, dealt with racism, and the honeymoon phase of her marriage was a blip on the radar before trouble began.

I appreciated how honest and vulnerable Sutanya was throughout this book; she didn’t shy away from her faults or flaws. We saw the highs and lows, the good and bad, the ugly and the beautiful of her life, her romantic relationship, and her relationship with herself. I admired her strength and how even when life knocked her down, she didn’t stay down for long. It would have been so easy for her to return to America after her divorce, to retreat to the familiarity of her family and former home, but she built a life that was all her own. Her tale was interesting, inspiring, and hopeful.

While I thoroughly enjoyed Dinner for One, I have to admit it wasn’t what I expected from the title or blurb. The actual cooking and love of food didn’t come until toward the end. While there was a clear appreciation for food throughout the book, it was usually mentioned in passing, and I was expecting it to be a huge theme throughout the book. I won’t say I was disappointed since I did enjoy reading about Sutanya’s journey, but I feel like the title was misleading, and I think there might be readers who will be disappointed.

Overall, this memoir was a joy to read. I won’t hesitate to recommend it to a variety of people, from foodies to lovers of Paris to expats to people struggling with relationship issues or divorce.

Sutanya grows up in this story and tells it so beautifully. She goes from college in Hartford, CT to falling in love and moving to Paris. This is her story and it is definitely one worth reading. I love how honest this story is told. The raw truth comes out and Sutanya doesn't hide from it. She tells of her heartbreak and how she came through the other side. I really loved this book and the descriptions are colorful and bring you right to her neighborhood in Paris.

I read this ahead of our trip to Paris and was so glad I did. The descriptions of food and life in France were a delight to read, but I'll admit the title felt a bit misleading. This book is really about the downfall of a relationship and rising up out of the ashes, and I think I was expecting MORE food writing than I got. That said: I really enjoyed this memoir and will look forward to hopefully more from this author. I appreciated her writing and the way she told her story, and it really made me nostalgic for my 20s. Thoroughly enjoyed!

I had the honor of interviewing Sutanya Dacres about her book "Dinner for One" on my podcast Storytime in Paris. Here is what I said:

"Sutanya Dacres, “Dinner for One”

My guest this week is author and podcast host Sutanya Dacres. Sutanya’s podcast “Dinner for one” has been featured in The New York Times and the BBC Radio Hour, and she has just released her first book, “Dinner For One: How Cooking in Paris Saved Me.”

Sutanya’s memoir is an honest look into what happened when her world fell apart and she found herself alone, divorced, in her 30s, in a foreign land. Through her generous, open and insightful writing, we feel her fall in love, we hear her heart break, and we watch her pick herself up and start again. And what’s that? That’s the scent of culinary salvation.

In a lively and candid conversation, Sutanya discusses vulnerability, cultural differences, dating after divorce, and so much more. Then, she treats us to a reading from “Dinner For One: How Cooking in Paris Saved Me.”

A good memoir can be a delightful read and this memoir is exactly that, delightful. The author is a Jamaican American woman who fell in love with a French man and married him. She relocated to Paris. Unfortunately the fairy tale romance came to an end and she was left to reassemble her life. She does this by cooking for herself and sharing her experiences in Paris on her podcast, Dinner for One.

The book is written like an old friend telling you about their life experience. Suntanya shares her successes, missteps and experiences being immersed in the beauty and culture of Paris. Her insights into life give the reader much to ponder.

The book can easily be read in a day and appeals to readers who love memoir or those who are fascinated with Paris living.

I received an advanced copy of the book from Harlequin Trade Publishing via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much to the author, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and NetGalley for the complimentary ARC!
This review contains my honest and unbiased thoughts and opinions. 🌸

I love memoirs, I love food, love Paris and definitely was excited to read this book.

"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."

This book caught my attention and I enjoyed reading about Sutanya Dacres' life as she opened up and allowed us a more intimate look into her private life. She shares her long distance relationship, moving to Paris, the end of her marriage and discovering life on her own in Paris. The authors shares with us how she kept going, picked herself up with the help of food and cooking and that was the part that truly caught my attention. I loved learning about her life, her experiences and of course, the food! I do with there were more recipes included.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin for the opportunity to read an advance copy of Dinner for One by Sutanya Dacres. Being a total Francophile I especially loved the descriptions of places in Paris. And the food!

In this compelling memoir, podcaster Sutanya Dacres shares how she picked herself up and created her own fairy tale in Paris after the dream she thought she was living crumbled around her.

Want to read about a cross cultural relationship in Paris with lots of recipes at the end? This is your book, then.
Dacres records her long distance romance and move to Paris and the end of her marriage.
The author shows a lot of heart and fortitude in how she picked herself up and soldiered on.
I love all the Parisian descriptions.
It’s a heartfelt memoir.

When life doesn’t go as planned, it can be a crushing blow. Even in an exciting international city, with a great job and the love of your life, things can go sour. This is the unfortunate situation in the memoir Dinner for One: How Cooking in Paris Saved Me by Sutanya Dacres. The author meticulously goes through her New York single life and explains to us the easy going confident person she is until she meets a Frenchman who takes her breath away. Then life begins to change for Sutanya, she conforms herself to a life hanging on long distance messages and quick getaways. The relationship transforms into the biggest sacrifice, excitement and change of marrying and moving to France. I absolutely love American in Paris stories and the author lets us ride on her shoulder through the good and the bad. She is revealing and humble when exposing her heart to all of us. We can feel with her the embarrassment of making culture mistakes when she is the only American in the room, very early in being immersed in the language. She is quite a trooper and pushes on in love until her situation falls apart and we see someone at a crossroads. At that point she must decide to either be crushed or start over. The second story of this book is the answer for her. I must say that the French relationship part of the book was so well written, I felt as if I was going through it with Sutanya-chills and all. The second portion which told her comeback was almost like a different book, mixing food and self help. In my opinion, it would have been better suited if the memoir would have continued as one book and the self help portion a separate book. However for Sutanya it is one life, and she is still young and living it. I loved the specifics on places in Paris that were out of the way destinations, great for a future trip! This book would be great for those readers who liked Pancakes in Paris and Seven Letters from Paris. A deep dive into what Parisian day to day life is like and immersion into French culture.

This is such a lovely story of rediscovering yourself after being lost. I enjoyed the way the author weaved in the healing nature of taking care of yourself through the mere effort of cooking and finding joy in the small things. I liked that she didn't delve too much into the angst and pain but focused on the way she rebuilt herself.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin for the preview of this book! Dinner for One is a real, unique memoir that totally immersifies you in the expat experience. Sutanya dives into her own coming of age experience as she entered the workforce and fell in love with a Parisian. A Native New Yorker, she candidly shares the triumphs and woes of finding love an ocean away and taking a leap of faith to follow it. Dacres is candid and vulnerable in her personal trials, and she discusses bias and race in such an illuminating way. I really enjoyed this book and I have such respect for the author bearing her soul in the way she did.

I absolutely loved this memoir. Sutanya Dacres' narrative is straightforward, moving, and, in the end, inspiring. Her words just flow.

She begins her story just a few months after her husband leaves, and she's not doing well. She's drinking too much and basically just getting through the day. Going back in time, Dacres details her unfulfilling job in Connecticut to her chance meeting with her future French husband in a NYC bar. Referred throughout the book as TFM (aka The French Man), Dacres explains her leap of faith in starting a relationship with him as well as her move to France, subsequent marriage, and then divorce.

This really feels like a "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" book as Dacres eventually turns to cooking as a way to heal and learn who she is post-divorce. Starting a dinner for one podcast, Dacres' strength and self-love become evident, and I'm sure the podcast was the impetus for this book. As an added bonus, Dacres includes a number of recipes as well. Her voice is fresh, her spirit is resilient, and you can't help but root for Sutanya Dacres.

I would like to thank #NetGalley and Park Row Books for this electronic ARC of #DinnerForOne.

I'm a sucker for memoirs from expats abroad, especially if the author brings a unique perspective. As a Jamaican-American woman whose whirlwind romance with a Frenchman eventually finds her divorced and on her own in Paris, Sutanya Dacres brings a moving, revealing, and passionate look at the expat life in Paris (and how her life differs from the airbrushed perfect "life in Paris" blogs she first devoured).

This memoir rises above the many expat life memoirs for Dacres's evocative descriptions of the romance of Parisian culture and food, as well as the negative aspects that she experienced.

Many thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Such a good book. Expat in Paris is always good but add food and finding ones-self and it becomes even better. This will be a great book for bookclubs!

I liked Sutanya and her voice. I liked seeing the relationship with The Frenchman develop, but I wanted the cooking and her discovery portion to start sooner within the book. We see bits and pieces of it throughout but we don't really see her diving into cooking for herself until well past the middle of the book. A lovely read, with great food references and a great look at Paris.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!