Bolivia’s New Food Revolution La Paz is the highest capital city in the world, and now it’s one of the most inspired, too—thanks to a citywide renaissance sparked The kitchen at Gustu, which inspired a by an unlikely source: local chefs. new era of Bolivian cuisine. hagen, Noma—which he ran alongside chef René Reolzepi—had scored the number one slot on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list for the third consecutive year. He could have done VERY COUNTRY has its street bone to eat honey-cured lamb, plucked an anything, but he shocked the world by opening food—banh mi in Vietnam, ant off the top of a pickled harlequin beet, his second restaurant in La Paz, a city of fewer E pierogi in Poland, arepas and licked a crunchy Andean grain called than a million high in the Andes Mountains. in Colombia. In Bolivia, it’s cañahua off a cow’s tail. And these were only Not only that, Meyer set up a string of culinary anticuchos, sizzling kebabs the appetizers on the epic 22-course tasting programs in the city’s poorest neighborhoods of heavily spiced, sliced beef menu. There was also a wonderfully tangy to train a new generation of Bolivians about heart. More than once I’ve chewed my way palm heart doused in balsamic vinegar; sur- the importance of native ingredients. In an through a few of these in the capital, La Paz, prisingly delicious (and strangely chicken- interview at the time, he explained his decision B after a night out. Which is why, last fall, while like) caiman meat paired with rutabaga; this way: “Bolivia may have the most interest- E N J A dining at the city’s fanciest restaurant, Gustu, and a trilogy of quinoa in grain, cream, and ing and unexplored biodiversity in the world.” M I N it came as a shock when a server brought me a miso-paste form that showed off the Bolivian When I first visited Gustu, in 2013, La Paz L O W stick of meat on a cooking stone. Here, anti- staple’s unexpected versatility. was an overlooked city, largely undeveloped, Y / G cuchos were elevated to haute cuisine. Gustu is the creation of Danish restaura- with no culinary scene to speak of. But the E T T Y Gustu lies in tony Zona Sur, an affluent teur Claus Meyer, co-founder of the New Nor- head chef at the time, Kamilla Seidler, also I M neighborhood of La Paz. That night, in addi- dic cuisine movement. In 2013, Meyer was on from Denmark, promised me that the young A G E tion to grilling my own anticuchos, I used a top of the world, after his restaurant in Copen- chefs in Gustu’s cooking programs would soon S 014 APRIL 2019 MEN’S JOURNAL Clockwise from above: Plaza Murillo and the National Congress building, in La Paz; walking home after school in the capital city; the famous Witches’ Market, the place to go for traditional herbal cures; papaya tiradito at Ali Pacha; and Gustu’s anticucho meat skewers. transform the city. “When we see this genera- tion go off and do their own thing, it’s going to be very exciting,” she said. She was right. Six years later, La Paz is in the midst of a culinary renaissance inspired by Gustu culinary principles and alums. That revival has overlapped with a rejuvenation of the city as a whole—one that has trans- formed La Paz into one of South America’s most exciting capitals. O M “When Gustu opened, many Bolivians also dozens of watering holes in the tourist hot T O didn’t appreciate native products; everything spot of Calle Sagarnaga, where you can swig P L E F from the outside was better,” says current antioxidant-rich palm fruits, and a handful of cervezas made with quinoa, amaranth, and T : J Gustu head chef Marsia Taha. The 29-year- protein-packed grains. coca (of cola and cocaine fame). U L I old Bolivian says the most important thing Proof of Bolivia’s newfound pride is on dis- Evidence of local pride extends far beyond E N C she learned from the Danes was not technique play at Popular Cocina Boliviana. This new the food. The culinary revival mirrored a cul- A P M but pride in their own local cuisine—“even restaurant from chef Diego Rodas lies above tural renaissance in the city overall, among E I L though,” she says, “they have less than 5 per- the Witches’ Market—the place to go for herbal designers, musicians, artists, and architects. ( 4 ) cent of the products we have in Bolivia.” Viagras, prophetic readings, and other indig- Each room at the recently opened boutique ; C O U Bolivia may be one of the poorest coun- enous cures—and puts a gourmet spin on the hotel Atix, for example, features works by R T E tries in the Americas, but geographically and city’s classic lunch stalls. Rodas explains to me Bolivian artist Gastón Ugalde. Design shops S Y O biologically speaking, it’s one of the richest. after plates of empanada-like tucumanas and like Mistura and Walisuma are working with F G Its endemic ingredients include some 2,000 indigenous collectives across the nation to U fleshy Titicaca trout that “lunch is the most S T different types of native potatoes, dozens of important meal of the day for Bolivians.” By sell textiles and handmade alpaca sweaters. U 016 APRIL 2019 MEN’S JOURNAL Bolivia’s endemic ingredients include thousands of fruits and vegetables, sold in stands across La Paz (above); La Arte- FOUR CAN’T-MISS sana, one of the many breweries in and MEALS IN LA PAZ around the city (top right); and lunch at Popular Cocina Boliviana (bottom right). GUSTU In the satellite city of El Alto, there’s a wave C L of Technicolor “New Andean” mansions from O C K architect Freddy Mamani, which cost up to boasts a strict local food philosophy: every W I S E $600,000 and look as if they were built during quinoa grain, cacao nib, and acai berry comes F R an ayahuasca fever dream. To reach the city, from within Bolivia. After three spectacular O M ALI PACHA L you can glide from downtown La Paz (eleva- courses, I stroll through downtown La Paz to E F T : tion: 11,940 feet) to uptown El Alto (elevation: Jallalla, a newly opened peña (folk club) on a J U 13,615 feet) on one of the eight cable-car lines corner of the cobblestoned Calle Jaén. L I E N that crisscross the cities. Jallalla sits above the gallery of Mamani C A “La Paz isn’t a pretty city, but it is quite sexy,” Mamani and has a veritable Sistine Chapel P M E I says Boris Alarcón, as we down cold brews at of the painter’s psychedelic Andean art on its L POPULAR COCINA BOLIVIANA ( 2 his gilded coffee bar HB Bronze. His shop is ceiling. It’s run by Jhon Montoya and Ricardo ) ; located in a shabby corner of the once glorious Iglesias, and serves Bolivian tapas. When I C O U R Casco Viejo neighborhood, which, a decade head to the bar for a cocktail, the bartender T E S Y ago, was practically deserted. Today, on the recommends the Luka Quivo, a mix of locally O F surrounding blocks, Alarcón has turned long- distilled vodka (1825 brand), fresh orange P O P abandoned mansions into opulent co-working juice, ginger, and airampo cactus. It arrives in U L JALLALLA A spaces (Kilometro 0), bookstores (The Writer’s a shoeshine box honoring the lustrabotas, who R C O Coffee) and hotels (Altu Qala). He now outbids wear ski masks to avoid the stigma of shining C I N deep-pocketed Europeans to keep the country’s shoes for a living. The cocktail is yet another A B O best coffee beans, chocolates, and wine inside reminder that being unabashedly Bolivian in L I V I Bolivia and on the menus at his properties. Bolivia today is, two centuries after indepen- A N Around the corner from HB Bronze is the dence, suddenly a revolutionary idea. Q A 018 APRIL 2019 MEN’S JOURNAL.