Don Day used to be in the advertising business. And when you’re in the ad biz, you learn to use words that sell in your ad copy. Words like amazing, free, colossal, reduced, special, professional, rare and lifetime. Don Day’s favorite advertising words were always two very simple words joined by a conjunction. They were new and improved. If that appeared on a box of detergent or cereal, you’d have to make sure you didn`t get in the way of them leaping off the shelf and into your shopping cart.

When I went into business for myself, I wanted to call my company The New and Improved Advertising Agency but my art director thought it was too long and my account director thought it was too frivolous. So I just named it after myself which, of course, annoyed them even more.

Advertising copywriters were always annoying people, and not just fellow employees, but guys like Ralph Nader for using words like new and improved because they weren’t always entirely factual (two more advertising words) and, let’s face it, if something was really new how could it be already improved.

Well old ad copywriters never die (they just start believing what they write) so I started off this blog post with words I knew would at least get you reading this far and, hopefully, will get you to better appreciate a restaurant that really is new and improved.

The restaurant is Sabores y Salsas, and there’s no denying Don Day likes this restaurant. I like the chef, I like the food and, most of all, I like the price. I think Sabores y Salsas is one of San Miguel de Allende’s very best values, restaurant or otherwise.

I wrote about Sabores y Salsas before it was new and improved. In fact, when this post is written it will put Sabores y Salsas in a tie with The Restaurant and Firenze as one of the three restaurants that Don Day has written about most in the years that he’s been blogging the San Miguel food scene.

The old, unimproved (never ever use those words in advertising) Sabores y Salsas opened about three or four years ago on Calzada de La Luz in San Miguel de Allende. It was a tiny room (about 10 feet wide by 20 feet deep) and that included the open kitchen. Don Day once embarrassingly realized he had a bathroom in the house he was renting that was actually larger than the restaurant. The place could, in two or three rotations, maybe feed 40 people a day and, if you got there and it was full, the neighborhood didn’t have much else to offer while you waited.

Many years before the old, unimproved Sabores y Salsas, chef and owner Maria Auxilio Trujillo Rodriguez ran the San Miguel restaurant Las Cazuelas and served thousands of visitors a buffet that included 32 different dishes. There was obviously room for a middle ground and last summer after a run at politics (no woman is perfect) I heard that Maria and Sabores y Salsas were moving to a bigger and better (the copywriter coming out again) place.

The new restaurant was to be on Salida a Celaya, right in the middle of a strip that, despite its rather dusty…no make that damn right butt ugly…visual appeal has become restaurant row in San Miguel. The address was previously occupied by a restaurant called Flash Fish that, despite its popularity, one day seemed to disappear in a…well you know what.

The new and improved Sabores y Salsas was scheduled to open last summer but before celebrating its grand opening, there was a hurdle of pole vault height to overcome. The story reminded me of the days when the Canadian Radio-Television Communications Commission used to vet all of Don Day’s commercials to ensure he wasn’t leading children astray.

Chef Maria had a vision for the exterior of her restaurant, a look that paid tribute to a traditional Mexican craft, the art of cutout paper, papel picado. A neighbor, however, didn’t share the same vision and thought the look was not in keeping with an historic colonial town, an image protected by San Miguel’s status as a world heritage site by Unesco.

One month, two months, almost six months of politics passed until the new and improved Sabores y Salsas opened its doors, complete with that papel picado design not only outside but in.

Don Day went there last week with best friends Rich and Lorain and visiting friends Steen and Lil. The first thing I did, like any ad man would do, was check the graphics outside. The old logo was either quaint or primitive depending on your opinion of the food inside; the new logo was rather slick. I was hoping that success hadn’t spoiled Sabores y Salsas.

Immediately upon walking in the door, I spotted a blackboard and on the blackboard was the same deal (another ad word…and almost as good as save and bargain) that there always was at the old restaurant. Four courses with a choice of two mains along with an accompanying (non alcoholic) drink and coffee for one set price. That all-inclusive (yes, two more ad words that work) price had gone up a titch between locations but it was still a ridiculously low price (OK, I’ll stop pointing out the ad words now) at 120 pesos, or about $10 U.S. Don Day already knew that this was going to be a happy day.

The next thing I noticed was Maria. It’s difficult not to notice Maria. Don Day is an afficianado of vivacity and Maria Auxilio Trujillo Rodriguez is a vivacious woman. Her blonde hair, olive skin, ruby lips and chestnut eyes blend beautifully together. She glides back and forth behind the counter of her new open kitchen as though on figure skates.

“I think she may have lost some weight”, said Don Day’s Wife.

“Wait, give me a minute…or maybe five…to check the jeans under her new chef’s jacket and make very sure,” said Don Day. “Yes I think you’re right. Definitely new and improved.”

Iced tea is the drink of the day and, after it’s poured, baskets of bread and ramekins of herb butter arrive. The butter has hints of garlic, oregano, marjoram and basil. People are starting to dig in and I warn them. Be careful, there’s an awful lot more goodness to come.

Next to arrive at the table is the salad. It’s a tall pile of greens, red cabbage and vegetable slivers, somewhat ordinary except for the exotic topping of amaranth. What makes it is the dressing. It’s Maria’s signature vinaigrette that includes honey and lemon. I remember the first time I tried this dressing. I remember convincing Maria to sell me a half litre to go.

Next comes soup. It’s a corn chowder. A tough one when foodies are present at the table. A great corn chowder tastes like butter and cream. The greatest corn chowder is one that can do it without using butter and cream. Lorain said, “This is really wonderful.” Lil said, “Ooh is it ever.”

I took a slight pause between courses and looked around the room. Sabores y Salsas now seats more than twice as many people as the old location yet it has a nice open feel. The design can best be described (by me, anyway) as a combination of colonial Mexican and mid-century modern. It feels very comfortable, as though you’re just as much in someone’s dining room as you are in a restaurant.

As always, there was a choice of two mains at Sabores y Salsas. On this day it was either pork in a peach sauce or a chicken mole. The six of us split 50/50 on our selections but were unanimous in our praise. Don Day is a harsh critic when it comes to moles and this one was an excellent balance of sweet and savory.

Maria’s sauces are always her tour de force. I presume that’s why she chose to name her restaurant Sabores y Salsas (tastes and sauces). She says, “I’m a person who’s loved to experiment with the colors and tastes of Mexican dishes ever since I was a little girl. Still every day I like to invent something new. I enjoy creating rare and exotic tastes in my kitchen, combining the influences from my French and Moorish roots with the basic Mexican flavors.”

There was still more to come though hardly any of us could even think of finding room for dessert. The postre was a pumpkin pudding, a very nice finale. “My recipes are really very simple,” Maria says. “Anyone can learn them. The ingredients are easy to find except for those few that are seasonal. Every dish is like a work of art for me; I’m like an artist with his paintbrush. The majority of the recipes are my own.”

Maria asked us if we would like coffee. I rarely, if ever, drink coffee after lunch or dinner but when I’m at Sabores y Salsas I always do. The cafe de olla, a Mexican coffee with molasses and cinnamon is superb.

I don’t know how much Sabores y Salsas had to do with it but when we got back to Rich and Lorain’s home, Lil asked for their internet password. She wanted to stay in San Miguel for two more days before her flight to Nicaragua. Thank you, Maria, for another convert to the joys of life in San Miguel de Allende.

And as for Sabores y Salsas, like any good ad man I encourage you to act now, before it’s too late. Maria Auxilio Trujillo Rodriguez may try and leave us for politics again.

Sabores y Salsas is located at Salida a Celaya 71A in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. The restaurant is open from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm, Wednesday to Sunday.