LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — From the world’s highest navigable lake, Titicaca, comes a culinary treasure: crispy-skinned fish, cooked in a hot copper pan and served with Andean boiled corn and dehydrated potatoes in traditional clay dishes.
It’s a signature dish of Chef Dennis Llusco at La Rufina, a restaurant in the Bolivian capital, La Paz, that was recently lauded by the U.K.-based organization 50 Best Discovery as one of the world’s best restaurants.
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People line up to buy fast food on a sidewalk in La Paz, Bolivia, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Patrons eat at the Yungas market dining area in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, March 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Anticuchos made of potato and pieces of beef heart are grilled at a street food stand in La Paz, Bolivia, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
A vendor prepares "Anticucho," a beef heart based dish consisting of small pieces of grilled meat and potato on skewers, in El Alto, Bolivia, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Chef Carolina Chuquimia prepares a dish of beef steak with yucca at La Rufina restaurant in La Paz, Bolivia, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Street food vendors prepare "Anticucho," a beef heart based dish consisting of small pieces of grilled meat on skewers, in La Paz, Bolivia, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
An Anticucho vendor prepares grilled potatoes and beef heart at her street food stand in La Paz, Bolivia, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
People eat pork cracklings at a street food stall in La Paz, Bolivia, Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Street vendors prepare fast food on the streetside in La Paz, Bolivia, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
A street food vendor prepares a traditional soup from the Andean region called "Wallake" made with fish from Lake Titicaca, in La Paz, Bolivia, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
A food vendor serves a plate to a customer on the street of La Paz, Bolivia, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
A vendor selling peach drinks called "Mocochinchi" as he waits for customers at his street stand in La Paz, Bolivia, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
People walk past La Rufina restaurant in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
A food vendor prepares a dish at the Yungas Market dining room in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, March 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Women eat noodle soup at a street stall in El Alto, Bolivia, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
“La Rufina started as a very small kitchen,” said the 30-year-old chef, a native of the Lake Titicaca region. “We never dreamed of having two locations or being included in the 50 Best Discovery list.”
Llusco is one of a growing wave of Latin American chefs drawing inspiration from their roots, elevating the humble street food of Bolivia to haute cuisine.
Stepping through La Rufina, opened in 2021, is like taking a journey through Bolivian traditions. Diners can mingle with cholitas — Indigenous women wearing the traditional, multilayered Andean skirts and black hats — and sample the flavors of street corners and markets.
The menu highlights local favorites, such as the baked potato stuffed with savory minced meat stew, a downtown La Paz staple. Another signature dish prepared by Llusco is “anticucho,” a popular Peruvian street food dish of grilled beef heart fillets served with potatoes and yellow chili pepper sauce.
Chef and food researcher Marko Bonifaz said Bolivia is undergoing an interesting movement that involves integrating haute cuisine with street food, and it is no longer just an attractive option for tourists, but for Bolivians themselves.
Llusco’s cuisine, deeply rooted in the teachings of her mother and aunt, who sold food on the streets of Bolivia, embodies this movement.
“These simple dishes reconnect us with our culture,” she said. “They make me very happy.”
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
People line up to buy fast food on a sidewalk in La Paz, Bolivia, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Patrons eat at the Yungas market dining area in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, March 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Anticuchos made of potato and pieces of beef heart are grilled at a street food stand in La Paz, Bolivia, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
A vendor prepares "Anticucho," a beef heart based dish consisting of small pieces of grilled meat and potato on skewers, in El Alto, Bolivia, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Chef Carolina Chuquimia prepares a dish of beef steak with yucca at La Rufina restaurant in La Paz, Bolivia, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Street food vendors prepare "Anticucho," a beef heart based dish consisting of small pieces of grilled meat on skewers, in La Paz, Bolivia, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
An Anticucho vendor prepares grilled potatoes and beef heart at her street food stand in La Paz, Bolivia, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
People eat pork cracklings at a street food stall in La Paz, Bolivia, Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Street vendors prepare fast food on the streetside in La Paz, Bolivia, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
A street food vendor prepares a traditional soup from the Andean region called "Wallake" made with fish from Lake Titicaca, in La Paz, Bolivia, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
A food vendor serves a plate to a customer on the street of La Paz, Bolivia, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
A vendor selling peach drinks called "Mocochinchi" as he waits for customers at his street stand in La Paz, Bolivia, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
People walk past La Rufina restaurant in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
A food vendor prepares a dish at the Yungas Market dining room in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, March 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Women eat noodle soup at a street stall in El Alto, Bolivia, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
The Orlando-Detroit game was tied at the half. The Phoenix-Oklahoma City game had an eight-point margin at the break.
And then everything changed in a hurry.
Third quarters were the deciders on Wednesday night in the NBA playoffs. Detroit started the second half on a 30-3 run to turn a tight game into a runaway, and Oklahoma City ended the third quarter on an 18-7 run that gave the Thunder a 23-point lead headed into the fourth.
Thursday's schedule features three games: Cleveland will seek a 3-0 series lead when it goes to Toronto, while New York goes to Atlanta and Denver goes to Minnesota — the winners of those two games set to take 2-1 leads in those matchups.
— Pistons 98, Magic 83 to tie series 1-1. Detroit's intensity was cranked up.
— Thunder 120, Suns 107 for a 2-0 series lead. Jalen Williams hurt his hamstring.
Referee Natalie Sago has been assigned to work Game 3 of the New York-Atlanta series on Thursday night. She'll become the third woman to officiate an NBA playoff game, after Violet Palmer and Ashley Moyer-Gleich.
Sago has been an alternate official and had assignments in the NBA's Replay Center during this postseason. Thursday's game — which she'll work alongside Marc Davis and Nick Buchert — is her first playoff on-court assignment.
The other first-time playoff referee chosen for these playoffs, Jason Goldenberg, made his on-court postseason debut Wednesday night as part of the crew working the Phoenix-Oklahoma City game.
— Edgecombe's wink is a sign he's arrived
— Road teams are pushing back in playoffs
— Wolves' Gobert challenging Nuggets' Jokic
— Billy Donovan steps down as Chicago's coach
— Warriors bracing for Kerr's possible departure
— NBA individual awards finalists are announced
— Some news and notes going into the postseason
— Playoff preview: Thunder seeking another title
— Heat equipment manager needs organ transplants
— The view from Vegas says the West is the best
Awards season is in full swing in the NBA, with San Antonio's Keldon Johnson — the Sixth Man of the Year — the latest winner.
A breakdown on where things stand:
— On Monday, San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama — just 22 years old — became the youngest Defensive Player of the Year, and the first to win the award in a unanimous vote.
— On Tuesday, Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander nearly became the first unanimous winner of the Clutch Player of the Year award. He got 96 of a possible 100 first-place votes.
— On Wednesday, Johnson topped Miami's Jaime Jaquez Jr. for Sixth Man of the Year, getting 63 first-place votes.
The finalists were unveiled Sunday night, led by the top three in the MVP voting — the reigning winner in Gilgeous-Alexander, three-time winner Nikola Jokic of Denver and Wembanyama, a first-time finalist.
The schedule for upcoming announcements:
— Thursday, Sportsmanship Award (Noon EDT, https://x.com/NBAPR). Finalists, with one player from each division: Miami’s Bam Adebayo (Southeast); San Antonio’s Harrison Barnes (Southwest); Gilgeous-Alexander (Northwest); Golden State’s Al Horford (Pacific); Indiana’s T.J. McConnell (Central); Boston’s Derrick White (Atlantic).
— Friday, Most Improved Player (6:30 p.m. EDT, Prime). Finalists: Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Atlanta; Deni Avdija, Portland; Jalen Duren, Detroit.
And the announcements that won’t be until next week, at the earliest:
— MVP: Gilgeous-Alexander; Jokic; Wembanyama.
— Coach of the Year: J.B. Bickerstaff, Detroit; Mitch Johnson, San Antonio; Joe Mazzulla, Boston.
— Rookie of the Year: VJ Edgecombe, Philadelphia; Cooper Flagg, Dallas; Kon Knueppel, Charlotte.
7 p.m. EDT — Game 3, New York at Atlanta (Prime Video)
8 p.m. EDT — Game 3, Cleveland at Toronto (Prime Video)
9:30 p.m. EDT — Game 3, Denver at Minnesota (Prime Video)
7 p.m. EDT — Game 3, Boston at Philadelphia (Prime Video)
8 p.m. EDT — Game 3, LA Lakers at Houston (Prime Video)
10:30 p.m. EDT — Game 3, San Antonio at Portland (Prime Video)
1 p.m. EDT — Game 3, Detroit at Orlando (Peacock/NBCSN)
3:30 p.m. EDT — Game 3, Oklahoma City at Phoenix (NBC/Peacock)
6 p.m. EDT — Game 4, New York at Atlanta (NBC/Peacock)
8:30 p.m. EDT — Game 4, Denver at Minnesota (ABC)
The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder (-120) are bigger favorites to win the NBA title than they’ve been since the postseason began, according to oddsmakers.
The Thunder went below the even-money line after San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama left Game 2 of the Spurs' series against Portland with a concussion, leaving his status — at least for Game 3 on Friday — a bit uncertain.
The Thunder are followed by San Antonio (+550), Boston (+650), Cleveland (+1300), Denver (+1500), Detroit (+2200) and New York (+2200). The Los Angeles Lakers — who were among the favorites before Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves got hurt, then saw their odds soar to as much as +30000 — are now back to +4000.
— May 2, 3 or 4: Conference semifinals begin.
— May 10: NBA draft lottery.
— May 10-17: NBA draft combine.
— May 17 or 19: Eastern Conference finals begin on ESPN and ABC.
— May 18 or 20: Western Conference finals begin on NBC and Peacock.
— June 3: Game 1, NBA Finals on ABC. (Other finals dates: June 5, June 8, June 10, June 13, June 16 and June 19).
— June 23: Round 1, NBA draft
— June 24: Round 2, NBA draft
— “It’s bad for the sport, bad for the integrity of the sport. People are going to start viewing this as the WWE if they’re not held responsible. ... I know I haven’t won a championship in this league but I have been in it for 11 years now, so to get to this point, to be treated like that, for me to even be saying something out loud, it’s bad." — Phoenix's Devin Booker, airing frustration with referees after getting assessed a technical foul in the Suns' loss to Oklahoma City on Wednesday night.
We devote this edition entirely to the 6,539-day span between home playoff wins for the Pistons, a nearly 18-year run that finally ended Wednesday night.
— Every other team in the league had home playoff wins in that span. Boston (78), Golden State (68) and Miami (65) had the most, while New Orleans (6), Sacramento (2) and Charlotte (2) had the fewest.
— The Pistons had 193 different players appear in at least one game during those 18 years.
— They had 10 different coaches in that span.
— They've played home games in five different cities in that span: Auburn Hills, Detroit and — in a bit of a technicality, yes — one home game each in London, Mexico City and Paris, too.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
San Antonio Spurs guard De'aaron Fox (4) drives to the basket past Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant, left, during the second half in Game 1 of a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series in San Antonio, Sunday, April 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes (4) blocks a shot by Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen (31) in the second half in Game 2 of a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series in Cleveland, Monday, April 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) sits on the court after a hard fall during the first half in Game 2 of a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series against the Portland Trail Blazers in San Antonio, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) gestures to the crowd in the first half in Game 2 of a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series against the Toronto Raptors in Cleveland, Monday, April 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Toronto Raptors guard Ja'kobe Walter (14) and Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) reach for the ball in the second half in Game 2 of a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series in Cleveland, Monday, April 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) drives past Portland Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara (33) during the second half in Game 1 of a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series in San Antonio, Sunday, April 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, left, talks to his son guard Bronny James during the first half in Game 1 of a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series against the Houston Rockets, Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner (22) and forward Tristan da Silva (23) celebrate after a win over the Detroit Pistons in Game 1 of a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry celebrates after scoring during the second half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game against the against the Los Angeles Clippers, Wednesday, April 15, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) lies on the court during the first half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game against the Charlotte Hornets in Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer watches in the closing minutes of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game between the Clippers and the Golden State Warriors Wednesday, April 15, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James looks to make a pass during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz, Sunday, April 12, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jayne Kamin-Oncea)
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) shoots against the Los Angeles Clippers during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, April 12, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
