Welcome to Deep Dish, a weekly roundup of food and entertainment news. Last week we discussed “Sit at the Bar September.”

When I found out that Starbucks was debuting protein-laced cold foam, I did not bat an eye. If there were a definitive list of distinctly American consumption trends, Starbucks and protein would most certainly sit near the top. The dogged reporters we are, my colleague Sam Stone and I ventured precisely two blocks to try them out ourselves. Much to my own shock, they weren’t terrible.

Also this week, the beloved choco taco has been resurrected thanks to gourmet ice cream chain Salt & Straw. Researchers discovered that tea not only grows but thrives on the moon. Lastly, Bon Appétit spent a day with Ellie the Elephant, of WNBA fame.

In the protein-obsessed hyperreality we live in now, there are protein cereals, protein powders made specially for kids, protein water, protein chips—you get the point. New gains-worthy products hit the market seemingly every day, and now, to complete the ouroboros, one protein bar company is even selling cod.

This week, as Starbucks closes approximately 400 stores around the country, it has also debuted protein-enriched milk and cold foams for specialty drinks like the Iced Banana Cream Protein Matcha (24 grams of protein) and the Chocolate Cream Protein Cold Brew (19 grams).

What kind of food writer would I be if I didn’t try every single option? Well, a less bloated one, probably. The banana number was mostly inoffensive (and flavorless) but the juiced-up matcha smacked of a musky, powdery flavor that was unpleasant. The chocolate cold foamed coffee had an actual cocoa flavor that worked well with the robust cold brew, and the double whammy protein-spiked vanilla latte and cold foam was sweet, but tasty. — Sam Stone, staff writer

Elsewhere on the internet

There’s no other diva quite like Ellie the Elephant, the unpredictable, always entertaining mascot of the WNBA’s New York Liberty. One day she’s performing as Lady Gaga, the next she’s giving you full choreography to Lil Mama’s Lipgloss. It’s called range, children, look it up!

Bon Appétit went behind the scenes with Ellie as she prepped for her big halftime performance. Of course, she stopped by Shake Shack for pre-game fuel, but that’s all I’m revealing; click through to get the lowdown on the rest of Ellie’s gameday picks. —S.S.

Back in 2022, we as a society were frankly unmoored by the sudden discontinuation of the Choco Taco, a long-time classic ice cream truck staple dessert. This very publication grieved its untimely passing. But thanks to the powers that be at Taco Bell and national (but mostly west coast–based) ice cream chain Salt & Straw, the treat is coming back, baby, with a new name (The Tacolate—rhymes with chocolate) and a gourmet makeover to boot. The Tacolate shares with its predecessor a waffle cone shell dipped in chocolate but is filled with a gussied-up cinnamon-ancho chile ice cream. By all accounts, it sounds delicious. The boxed Tacolates will contain the ice cream treat and two Taco Bell sauce packets, in the flavors mango jalapeño and wild-berry cinnamon. The Tacolate however won’t be sold at the fast food chain—only at Salt & Straw shops and online. —Li Goldstein, associate newsletter editor

Lunar soil is, apparently, an extremely viable tea-growing habitat. According to Salon, researchers discovered this after simulating the conditions on the moon, Mars, and in “Devonian soil, an ancient, clay-rich type from Devon, England” as a control. “The tea plants in lunar soil flourished, performing on par with those in Devonian soil, while the Mars saplings failed to grow.” From my (extremely unscientific) perspective, I’d say this is incredible news for the future of tea in the face of any shortage, though I’m curious about the logistics. How long will it take to grow a crop and then transport it back to Earth? And how will they price moon-grown tea? This all remains to be seen—though hopefully not too far from our near future. —L.G.