dot was INCREDIBLE in this episode and as always, i'm REALLY really proud of her. dot's character progression as shown by her relation to food still doesn't get old and somehow after all this time it still continues to be interesting. since the beginning of the terastal arc we've seen her enjoy food a lot more, but that really comes to a head in HZ058, where she is confident enough in her feelings on food and passionate enough about it to essentially guide fixing an entire restaurant. and that's amazing!! oh my god!!
it is so incredibly rewarding to see dot being exploratory with food and enjoying it, even with something this unusual and intimidating. i cannot believe this girl used to use vitamin supplements as a substitute for actual food and was illustrated surrounded by junk food garbage in her past. in HZ013 she was intimidated at the mere thought of putting a sandwich together. and now here she is digging through this pile of crazy ass food to get to udon noodles at the bottom. incredible.
and she's like... skilled with taste?
this further goes to show that her prior aversion to food wasn't actually because she doesn't like food, but because of social/emotional reasons. food wasn't worth sharing with other people because people weren't worth it. she did not value the enjoyment of eating something she actually liked. but she is not averse to good food, and in fact when given the opportunity, she's able to clearly articulate food critique enough to kick this restaurant couple into gear. it makes a lot of sense to me - she's spent so much time realizing how good food can be and of course she'd be able to pick out the details, especially in comparison to the uncomplicated and processed garbage she was eating before, which probably didn't taste like much of anything.
it's a little funny because this episode still starts with her prioritizing her next imminent activity over food, and she just kind of gets roped into eating with everyone else.
but that makes sense and feels realistic for her character. dot is still one to prioritize work after all. but once she's there, she's fine!! and that's the important part