Review of Dinner for One by Sara Chong and Jeremy Fernando

I recently finished 𝐷𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑂𝑛𝑒 by Sara Chong and Jeremy Fernando, which was published by Delere Press earlier this year. It was an absolutely wild ride, and I found myself trying to figure out exactly what I was reading. A book of poetry? A cookbook? Art? Philosophy? Yes. All of the above. But, I still can’t decide whether it belongs in an art gallery or a library. I propose both.

This collection is as complex as its recipe for revolution broccoli, as decadent as its chicken popcorn (not to be mistake for popcorn chicken), and as strange as its recipe for liver with apples, which calls for plenty of brandy and a “Caucasian chalk circle,” whatever that is!

The ramen comes with instructions to "wake up filled with a sense of deep shame" (undoubtedly the shame adds depth) and each recipe is accompanied by a side of poetry. Quotes from the likes of Anthony Bourdain, Pablo Neruda, and Lana del Rey are the only appetizers on the menu. Order them all and share at the table. Philosophical fragments are scattered like chopped parsley. Chong and Fernando's art is nectar that we drink to "slip into our own skin" and "dilute and concentrate in response to the world around us." 𝐷𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑂𝑛𝑒 is a living artifact, a place where “your reflection, what you take in, consume, takes you over, consumes you, becomes you.” If I could summarize Chong and Fernando’s interdisciplinary masterpiece, I’d say that it’s experimentalism at its absolute best.

I felt the weight of the words and images on my tongue, listened to the sound of my own chewing like "another sound from [my] youth, a sound from another childhood," and then swallowed it all down.

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