Diana Kennedy was my introduction to Mexican cooking.

She was a true ambassador for keeping it authentic and regional. She is a scholar and a cook. Later, Rick Bayless at Topolobampo and Frontera Grill restaurants in Chicago took over where Diana's "book" tutelage left off. Bayless and his staff demonstrated how to honor tradition and technique and present honest food with ethnic integrity.

The Midway Market in Minneapolis also was a source of inspired Mexican cooking. Many of the cooks were/are migrant workers making their way north, cooking the food they know and love and making it available to gringos.

It's not Tex-Mex food or combination platters glued together with cheese and anchored with beans and rice. It's not taco salads or burritos on steroids.

So it was with real pleasure I awaited the opening of Sal Parco's Uno Mas restaurant in Mount Pleasant.

The parking lot has been full ever since its May opening. Cars are parked on berms, at angles, in adjacent lots, along the frontage road. There are no reservations. You leave your name, you wait your turn.

The space is attractive. A soothing color palette of pumpkin, aquamarine, safflower and green brings liveliness to the walls. Metal turtles crawl up a wall wearing cowboy kerchiefs. Could they be Lowcountry Milagros?

Soft lighting and sturdy tables give a Mexican farmhouse feel. The space transports you and that is good.

The kitchen is visible through a large picture window. The sight lines, however, do not allow you to see much of the food production or preparation.

The menu is a good read. Mole Amarillo, Guajillo-Ancho Chile Salsa, Masa Onion Crisps, Duck Nachos, Cerdo Al Pastor.

The salsa rojo was ruddy colored, promising depth, intensity. The chips, bright yellow, crisp, generous. The servers, in their guayabera shirts, prompt, friendly, engaging.

So where to begin? Elote Asado ($4), corn that was grilled, rolled in mayonnaise, sprinkled with cheese, brightened with lime. Chile Relleno with Lobster ($12), Queso Fundido ($6) with house-made chorizo. Too many choices.

We settled on Duck Nachos ($8), tostadas topped with slow-cooked duck, a papaya-based pico de gallo, a sprinkle of Cojita (cheese), crema (Mexico's answer to creme fraiche) and black beans. This dish was pretty — the golden color of the tostadas, the burnished brown duck, the stripes of crema, the contrast of the black beans. But the flavors were not there. How could a dish so nicely composed and artfully presented have so little taste?

There was no expectation of Mexican food being incendiary. This is not a cuisine best served by an asbestos tongue. Rather it is one of amazing complexity. Moles, rajas, adobos; chiles, fresh and dried with all the flavor profiles of wine.

So our experience was a surprise. Even more so because we have enjoyed so many dining experiences at Mr. Parco's other properties, and there is a competence in his establishments and genuine joy when you observe him "work" the guests. He enjoys this business, and it is a hard one.

We ordered the Enchilada Verdes de Pollo and Cerdo al Pastor. And again the flavors were absent.

The organic chicken enchilada, simmered in red chiles, topped with tomatillo sauce and sprinkled with the Cojita cheese, looked like a Mexican flag. With all these vibrant ingredients there was no brace of the tartness of tomatillos, no back kick of the red chile's sweetness, but the saltiness of the cheese prevailed.

The pork entree was a pork tenderloin adobo "marinated" (adobar means to marinate) with tomatillo sauce, "charcoaled" pineapple and serrano chile salsa. This dish is believed to have been brought to Mexico by the Lebanese. It is a real treat with the sweet-smoke of the fruit, the chewy char of the pork, the bright flavors of the salsa — yet this dish was flat. And, an enigma, because it looked so good on the plate.

We washed it all down with a glass of sangria ($4) and once again, no flavor. This drink (and if you are ever in Washington, D.C., try the version at Jaleo) can be a refreshing, cleansing, thirst-quenching combination of wine, fizz and fruit. Uno Mas' watered-down version did disservice to the wine and the fruit. They blend white and red wine. I suggest they do one or the other but not half-and-half.

Our "eating" experience surprised us. This restaurant is packed. Was it a question of if you mix it, they will come? The jewel-like drinks numbing tastebuds?

We returned and tasted improvements.

Guacamole — the poor man's butter — is offered in a "flight" for $10. Traditional; Rojo, with roasted tomatoes and chile de arbol; and Camaron, with shrimp, mango, papaya and serrano. Crushed in a molcajetes, presented in squat glasses anchored by a banana leaf, the presentation is artful. The flavors were good. Better would be: more salt, lime and cilantro taste, not a pile of it on top of greens. The greens are great but no one wants "salad" in the way of a scooping guacamole with a chip.

The Blue Corn Crusted Shrimp ($10) (local, they told us, we asked!) were very tasty. These were served with two flour tortillas, a mango-citrus salsa, shards of red cabbage, carrot and spicy guacamole. The guacamole was not spicy, though with seasoning; it could be a good sauce for this dish.

Uno Mas is an attractive place. A restaurant with energy. Grab a "high" table with a group of friends and eat "la botano" — snacks. And then move on to dessert. A nicely constructed dessert menu that offers creativity, complexity and Sal's Banana Tostada is the way to go.

Mexican cuisine has a certain robustness, complexity. It is sassy, salty, savory. It sings when you eat it. Uno Mas' execution of this cuisine has not yet begun to hum. The foundation is there. Now to get the kitchen to creating buen provecho.