San Diego yields few Mexican restaurants that fall into the category of fine dining. And to my knowledge, I don’t know of any that sport a techno ambience to boot.

Tesoro Restaurante & Taberna is among the newest of hip restaurants in the Gaslamp Quarter. It embodies a cavernous lounge in the basement, which keeps up with the clubby Joneses in the neighborhood, plus two additional levels for dining, where low-beat trance and digital tempos add an intoxicatingly smooth feel to the place.

A plasma screen on the back wall pulsating with colorful video loops makes for a striking entrance, although elegant table dressings and refined appointments spare it from appearing cold or depthless.

The atmosphere in the second-floor dining room is where the restaurant truly lives up to its name, which translates to “treasure.” There’s a big, glassy window in front looking down to bustling Fifth Avenue. A dramatic candelabra twinkles from a rear ledge. And a decent number of spaced-apart tables stretched over beautiful wood flooring consoles the senses. The lighting is bright and warm, and you feel as though you’ve entered into privileged dining territory as pedestrians glance up from the street with envious curiosity.

Chef David Salgado, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, works wonders with provincial Mexican ingredients while swooping up his dishes for contemporary-minded Epicures. Delicate squash blossoms grown in Mexico appear in a first-course quesadilla; nopal cacti comprise a tangy salad molded with cilantro and topped off with shrimp; and the citrusy hibiscus flower lunges forth in a pungent reduction for filet mignon.

My dining companion and I encountered some nice surprises here, beginning with the discovery of a couple of Mexican red wines and a summery-tasting tamarind martini rimmed with a mixture of sugar, chili spice and citric acid.

From the appetizer list we reveled in the Tarta de Rajas, a mini stack of puff pastry shells oozing with poblano chilies, corn, Oaxaca cheese and a touch of chilled cream for temperature contrast. Much spicier were the Chilies Gueros, precarious little peppers stuffed with diced shrimp and sautéed tomatoes. My companion popped down only one of them and then watched me squirm after I ate the remaining five. A few squiggles of cilantro-cream sauce on the plate quelled the burn somewhat.

The Ensalada de Nopal with cilantro dressing is a good introduction to this edible and fibrous cactus, which is native to the weedy wastelands of Mexico and touted for its fat-blocking properties. The chef complements it with onions and tomatoes and packs it into an eye-catching mold that gently tumbles apart at first tap of the fork.

Less exciting was the Crepas de Chicharron, filled with fried pork skins that turned spongy from the warmth and moisture inside the crepes. A meatier stuffing would have struck a better marriage to the mildly tart tomatillo sauce, which was pleasing and well constructed.

Two differently prepared filet mignons are offered on the main-course menu. One is served with chipotle sauce and Oaxaca cheese, and the other is heavily covered in a hibiscus and red wine reduction, which Salgado makes ahead of time because it takes more than an hour to cook down. The result is an intense tangy flavor well suited for beef of this high quality, although the effect wouldn’t have been compromised whatsoever if the amount of sauce was cut in half.

Our other entrée, Camarones al Chipotle, featured several succulent white shrimp from Mexico that are bathed in an excellent creamy chipotle sauce. The mound of rice in the middle was also outstanding. It’s laced judiciously with cream and cheese for added richness.

The menu also includes Lenguado con Pina (pineapple-stuffed halibut), Carne Oaxaquena (flap steak with pasilla chili sauce), Pollo al Tequila (roasted half chicken with tequila-tamarind glaze) and Assorted Mexican Popsicles, a fun and novel dessert that put a refreshing wrap on our dinner.

Tesoro is the brainchild of Rosie D. Vera, a local realtor with an eye for design who always dreamed of opening a restaurant. Landing on a prime piece of real estate in the heart of the Gaslamp seems a fitting showcase for bringing authentic Mexican food to trendy new heights. And the slick interior layout is spacious and perfectly tailored to appease both young and old.

Just don’t come knocking for tacos or bean burritos. Those aren’t the kind of foods this kitchen considers “treasures.”