"My Dinner with Dante" is the second segment of the 5th episode of the second season of Trolls: TrollsTopia, and the 35th overall episode in the series. It premiered on March 18, 2021.
Synopsis[]
Dante Crescendo opens a fancy new restaurant, introducing TrollsTopia to fine Classical dining. But when Holly Darlin doesn't respond with her usual "woo hoo" of enthusiasm, Dante changes his restaurant in the hopes of gaining her approval.
Plot[]
At Chez Dante, Holly Darlin', Poppy, Synth and Cooper arrive for the restaurant's grand opening, and Poppy is happy how they look as Dante has worked hard to open TrollsTopia's first Classical fine dining establishment.
Dante greets them to his restaurant and sets off an impressive display of Classical Troll culture. Everything is going well and the Trolls give a great review but Holly gives him a great which leads him to concern. Poppy and Dante go under the table to talk, and Dante explains his concern is because when Holly is impressed she shouts "woo-hoo"; she did not this time. That leads Dante to believe she is not enjoying her meal. When Poppy goes to cheer him up with her own woo-hoo, Dante tells her to spare him the pity. Dante ensures Poppy that he will impress Holly, and he still has some tricks up his sleeve.
He folds a napkin piano and begins a song all while service is focused on Holly. But by the end, she still hasn't given a "woo-hoo" but only a "wow" to him. Everyone exits, leaving Dante and Poppy alone. Dante is moping about being unable to get an impressive response from Holly. Poppy tries to tell him that a "wow" is just as good as a "woo-hoo" and Holly may still have enjoyed the night but Dante is not convinced. Poppy notes that while he didn't impress Holly, Cher Dante brought a lot of joy to everyone else, but this is unacceptable to Dante.
This makes Dante reopen the restaurant as "Dante's Chilli Torium" to the horror of Poppy as Dante has remodeled the restaurant into a Country Troll style. Dante came to the conclusion that his restaurant didn't appeal to Holly's tastes so is now trying to appeal to her. Holly returns and Dante tries to appeal to her Country tastes, when Minuet goes to speak but is corrected to a Country way of speaking. Holly is confused, but goes with it.
He sits Poppy and Holly at a table and gives them food. Holly comments that "chilli" isn't suppose to be "chilly". The food is hurried back into the kitchen to make it hot but Poppy doesn't like the sounds created while this is going on. Dante comes rushing out on a mechanical Adorabull and this causes a ruckus. Holly is now concerned with how Dante's behaving. Dante kicks the bull and it goes into a rage mode. In the bulls' rage, a bowl of food lands on Holly's head and she shouts "enough". She angrily demands he start making sense of all the nonsense, pointing out none of what's going on is himself.
Dante finally explains himself, claiming that he was trying to appeal to Holly as she didn't like the restaurant. Upon hearing this, Holly completely softens up and tells him the truth. Last night, she herself wasn't in the mood. She tried to create a celebration cupcake casserole for Dante to give him as a gift, but in her excitement dropped the dish. Since she had no present to give him to show her thanks she felt, she let him down.
Dante realizes that Poppy had been right about what she said earlier. It was nothing to do with her not enjoying the restaurant. Holly says she loved Chez Dante, and it is her fault if she made him feel otherwise. Dante denies his friend, saying he is the one who made the mistake to begin with. He went on to say he loved Chez Dante the way it was and that should be enough for him. He then declares he will return the restaurant back to the way it was. Holly says before he does that, there is no point in wasting all this excitement of the glitter bean chili and finally gives a "woo-hoo".
Cast[]
Songs[]
Trivia[]
- The title is a reference to the comedy film My Dinner with Andre.
- This episode was leaked prior to the series' premiere under the title "Dinner with Dante".
- This is the first episode to have Dante's name in the title.
- The storyboard animatic version for this episode was put up by Jim Mortensen on Vimeo here.
- The storyboard animatic version of the song sequence was also put up by Michelle Thompkins-Lima here.
- The plot is about the simulation of other cultures within a culture, and references the popular "foreign restaurant" problem. More specifically, it references the food industry. For example, an oriential-style restaurant doesn't always get quite right the food or style of oriental cuisine. It is because of a number of factors such as having to appeal to local interests of the people living in that area who are unfamiliar with other cultures, or because the food can never taste exactly due to various food regulations or available spices. Foods popular in the native country also aren't popular in another and even approach to the treatment of food can be different.
- The song where Dante sings is played to the tune of "Messiah" otherwise known as the "Hallelujah Chorus".