For generations, the first whisper of dementia was thought to arrive through memory — the forgotten name, the lost errand. Now, physicians are redirecting attention to the dinner table, where eight specific changes in eating behavior may surface before the mind's fog fully sets in. The brain's executive systems, which quietly govern the choreography of every meal, can falter earlier than memory itself, offering families and clinicians a more timely window for recognition and care. In this reframing, the ordinary act of eating becomes something worth watching with new eyes.