Dinner For One

When you're single it's easy to feel like you're moving through the world alone and unseen. Everyone else seems to have someone who is obligated to check in, show up and be there. And you, well, it's just your sad little lonesome self fighting all the battles, or so it seems. Recently, after another rejection email that made me want to throw a toddler-like tantrum and then go to bed for the rest o...

Season 7! I'm back, baby!   In my little Paris kitchen, but this season I'm going back to my roots, just you and me. No guests, no filters, just honest conversations about what it really means to live (and be) alone. In this first episode, "Confronting the 'A' Word: Alone," I dig into the myth of being "okay" by yourself, the quiet nights, the loneliness that creeps in, and the beauty in sitting w...

On this episode, I dined on pasta alla gricia with my guest Robin Davis while we spoke about the tricky balance of being in a relationship while cultivating and celebrating a solo life. Like me, Robin is an American in Paris. She's also a writer, producer, and a soon-to-be-published author!  I really enjoyed this episode because all of the prior guests I've spoken to this season were single and li...

Two episodes in one week! Look at meeeee! This is my way of apologizing for the long break between episodes. So all is forgiven now, yeah?  In this episode, I talk about how what started as a way to center myself (and, let's be honest, keep me off the streets and out of the wine bars) turned into something way bigger. I didn't realize it at the time, but every solo dinner I made was laying the fou...

In this episode, I had the absolute pleasure of chatting with Tanisha Townsend, the founder of Girl Meets Glass, a wine lifestyle and education agency, and woman whose honesty, humor, and intelligence I admire deeply. I made fried chicken and mashed potatoes, she brought a beautiful bottle of Blanc de Blancs, and we got to talking! Tanisha brought her wit and no-nonsense attitude to the conversati...

Je parle français dans cet épisode. Pas le meilleur français et pas sans fautes, mais au moins je l'ai fait, et pour cela, j'en suis contente. Bien sûr, le fait d'avoir cette conversation avec une amie m'a beaucoup aidé. Dans cet épisode, "Pour que je m'aime encore", j'ai parlé à mon amie Farah, parisienne qui y est née et y a grandi. Elle est l'une des personnes les plus rayonnantes, réfléchies e...

In this week's episode of Dinner for One 2.0 , I touch on the stigma surrounding solo living, especially for those of us in our 30s and beyond. There's still this outdated narrative that if a woman lives alone, she must be lonely, jaded, or just waiting for the right partner to "complete" her. But we know that's not true, right? Living alone doesn't equal loneliness, and it definitely doesn't mean...

My first guest of the season is my friend Jessica Hodge, an Australian sommelier living in Paris. This episode turned out to be quite an interesting one because I initially expected Jess to share similar feelings and ideas about creating and embracing a life of living alone, even if it's temporary. Well, listener, I was wrong. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation, and perhaps most impo...

And I'm back!  To be honest, I thought the last episode published in June 2023 would be my last, but clearly I was wrong.  When I started this podcast in 2018, I was in my early 30s grappling questions: "How can I survive this colossal life shift?",  "What does survival even look like?" "Can I stay in Paris?" "Will I stay in Paris?" For all intents and purposes, I survived and did some cool shit....

It's been a long time since the last episode, but I'm back! From my Parisian kitchen to your ears, join me on a trip down memory lane with some of the best moments from the Dinner for One podcast.

Ten years ago today, June 12, 2013, I landed at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris with a spousal visa in hand, a diamond ring on my left ring finger, and a husband waiting for me at the arrivals section. I thought I had it all.  Fast forward ten years, June 12, 2023, and my life looks very different. It doesn't resemble at all anything that I expected, but I am convinced everything that has happe...

In this episode, I'm in conversation with another pal of mine, Rosie Clifton. The goal of this episode was to talk about French parenting styles vs British, or even more broadly, Anglo-Saxon parenting styles. And while we did touch on that, the two biggest and most important lessons I took away from this chat were that I really need to CHILL THE F OUT and appreciate just living in France. As you'v...

Back-to-back episodes featuring very chic, very cool, very stylish, very insightful Parisians.  How lucky are we?! In this episode, I'm in conversation with my friend, the artist Tiffanie Delune. In the episode, we talk about self-love, self-care, being in alignment with oneself and how that leads you on the path toward designing your own life. Having the courage to acknowledge, ask for and walk t...

In this episode, I talk to my very Parisienne, very chic, very cool pal, Marie Chalamet.  Like me, Marie is divorced. And like me, her marriage ended when she was in her early 30s. In this episode, we talk about food, of course, but we also talk about divorce and romantic relationships.   Her approach to relationships and life, in general, is quite different from mine. Where she goes with the flow...

Ciao a tutti! I recorded this episode from a much bigger kitchen during my stay in Monopoli, Italy a few weeks back. In this episode I talk about why I went to Italy, the pull that the country, and specifically Puglia, has on me, traveling solo as a lady and I answer your IG questions (you guys are REALLY curious about TFM!) all while attempting to make pasta alla gricia. I hope you enjoy it and b...

Sometimes we forget to take stock of and appreciate the love we have in our lives when we feel like it's lacking. In this episode, I talk about a time in taking for granted the care, support, and affection I have around me and the things that happened that made it very clear that I need to focus on what I have versus what I perceive as a lack.

19 years, 3 children, 2 long-distance stints and the love that Camille has for her husband Bruno is as strong and palpable as when they met in school at the tender age of 18 years old. It really is just a coincidence that this episode is being released on Valentine's Day and their anniversary. I didn't plan it this way but my unwavering procrastination led to this twist of fate. I spoke to Cam abo...

I'm not cooking in this episode and there is no chatting about my current life in Paris instead, I'm going to tell you a little story about what led me to you and you to me. So find a cozy spot, your fave beverage of choice, and listen to me tell you about the fateful Saturday that led me to start cooking dinner for one by reading the prologue of my memoir. I did get a *little* EMOSH during the re...

It's been almost 4 years since I started the podcast. In 2018 I was very much on a 'no boys allowed' train. I needed to get my shit together by myself and was very wary of falling into the trap of using a relationship to help me. Time has passed, things have changed and now for the first time I find myself in a place where I think I *may* actually be ready to open myself to the possibility of fall...

The pandemic is far from over but this past year and a half has been quite a doozy, no? I'm still processing everything we've all been through and trying not to be too nervous and anxious about what's next, so I decided to get on my soapbox and talk about the 6 *positive* things cooking dinner for one during a global pandemic taught me while making a tomato salad. The salad is so simple and delish...

My favorite Bahraini princess Manal Al Saleh joined me on this episode (kidding, she's not actually a princess but she's a princess to me!) We've known each other since university and what's so funny about our post-university transition is that we both went from not cooking at all (the first meal Manal ever made for me was a cheese sandwich) and driving from Hartford to Boston because we craved la...

Once I started cooking more regularly and upping my culinary game I noticed that more and more people with similar interests began orbiting my universe, and me theirs. And this was definitely the case with the guest on the most recent episode, "For The Love of Cooking" w/ Rebecca Plotnick. Rebecca actually ticks two boxes: a love of cooking and Paris. She lived between Paris and the US for a few y...

It's been 11 years since Gabbie and I lived together and almost 8 years since we've lived in the same country, yet she's one of the first people I turn to when I need a non-judgemental listening ear and let it all out. But that doesn't mean she doesn't tell me about myself when needed (and I need to be put in my place more than I would like to admit). Her well of love runs deep and wide and I'm so...

I had the pleasure to chat with New York-based, Ghanaian writer and creative consultant Natasha Nyanin about her tried and true Senegalese Yassa Chicken recipe that has made its way from Senegal to New York City to Poland and to my Parisian kitchen (and a few of my friend's kitchens too!) What I loved the most about this conversation was the way Natasha elevates cooking, hosting, and designing her...

*Just a heads up, this episode is in French. Why? Listen to at least the first few minutes to find out.* Journaliste, fondatrice de l'agence de rédaction PLUME et animatrice du podcast Manger, Laurianne Melierre m'a rejoint dans ma petite Parisian cuisine pour enregistrer ce bel épisode où nous avons fait des pieds de porc pané, des œufs mimosa et quelques accompagnements 💪🏾. Avant l'enregistrem...