But in La Paz the lower the elevation the better you feel. The lowest-altitude neighborhoods are the most desirable. In the one called Calacoto—where Gustu is situated, at 10, feet—quiet cobblestone streets are lined with embassies and the offices of N. Gustu, housed in an imposing gray concrete cube with a bank of protruding windows, is both a restaurant and an experiment in social uplift. It was opened in by the Danish food entrepreneur Claus Meyer. He was surprised, and a little uncomfortable. He started a foundation called Melting Pot, which taught prisoners in Denmark how to cook, but that came to seem insufficiently ambitious. His first idea was to open an outpost in one of the troubled countries of southeastern Europe—Bulgaria, Greece, Romania—or possibly in Kazakhstan. He developed a ranked list and considered Ghana, Vietnam, and Nepal. Vietnamese cuisine was already too good, Meyer decided; all the great combinations of ingredients had been discovered.