Located in Kaimuki, 12th Ave Grill is the quintessential modern American neighborhood bistro; it was an instant hit with diners when it opened about two years ago and is still going strong.

12th Ave Grill and I got off to a rocky start. Regular readers of HawaiiDiner.com will recall a brief report on a less than happy experience at the restaurant a few months ago which may lead some to wonder why I decided to return.

The answer is three-fold. The first reason applies to my general philosophy of restaurants and knowing that a single bad experience, especially when it is service-related, doesn't usually give a true picture. When it comes to service, I know that most places can have an 'off-day'. On the other hand there are places where the service problems are systemic and great food is not enough to make me a regular customer. That said, I didn't believe the experience I had at 12th Ave Grill was typical, especially in light of the mostly positive reports I've heard from diners I trust.

Grilled Pork Chop with Potato Pancake, Horseradish Crème Fraiche and Apple Chutney will more than satisfy the biggest appetite.

The second reason was the recent hiring of Kevin Dee, one of Honolulu's most talented young chefs, and pastry chef, Samantha Choy, who is a master of desserts. The two of them have proven ability to forge devoted followers amongst people who appreciate great food, and I knew their talents could really shine in a spot like 12th Ave Grill. Evidently, the food menu hasn't changed much since Kevin started and I certainly hope to see some of his influence on it sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, the dessert menu has changed and it is stellar.

The clincher was when long-time friend and successful restaurateur, Ronnie Calvo-Perez, told me she was planning a vacation in Honolulu and asked where I thought she and the family should eat - 12th Ave Grill was one of the places that kept coming to mind, and when they asked me to join them for dinner there one evening, I went along. May I say, it was a good decision.

Treats like this Double Lemon Pie featuring a light lemon chiffon and tart-sweet lemon filling encased in a tender butter crust illustrate why you should leave room for dessert. If you read the full description of this dessert in the review, it may induce drooling.

I arrived on-time but my dining companions were delayed due to the challenge of getting a taxi and loading the children into said taxi. I was seated right away even though I would have understood if they wanted to wait until all of us arrived. Water and the wine list appeared promptly and after ordering a glass of wine, I sat back to enjoy being alone and observe my fellow diners. Dessert was just being delivered to the threesome next to me and it was a pleasure to see the delight on their faces as they dug into Sami's desserts. (Full disclosure here: I adore Sami and her desserts so I can in no way pretend to be neutral in this regard!) A few minutes later the booth across the aisle received their desserts and the murmurs of "It's so good!" and "You must try this!" followed by the passing of plates started all over again. I blame this experience for the ordering decisions which were to follow.

Observing the daily specials on the chalkboard above the kitchen I noted other smaller chalkboards in the kitchen where they were marking off the number of specials still available. One of these looked suspiciously like a highly desirable dessert - written on the board was "PB" and the numbers 1-6 in circles, three of the circles were x-ed out. Feeling a bit of panic I flagged down our server and asked him what the "PB" was and, as I suspected, it was Sami's famous Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Tartlet. He promptly said that he could set one aside for us. I confess to breathing a sigh of relief - great desserts can do that to me.

Ronnie and family arrived and the staff immediately decided it would be better to seat us in a booth rather than the table which they had reserved. This turned out to be a very good idea providing more room for us and more space for food.

We piled into the booth and set about studying the menu and the wine list. Despite juggling a squirmy three year-old boy (is there any other kind?) and a more sedate six year-old girl, a lively discussion of what to order commenced. We settled on three appetizers, two entrees and four (yes, four!) desserts and a bottle of Reisling for the adults.

Let me take just a moment to talk about 12th Ave Grill's wine list. While the list is not huge (27 offered), it is well chosen and affordable. 10 of the wines are available by the glass. The most expensive wine on the list is $44.50 and half of the wines are less than $30. It's the right-sized and right-priced list for this restaurant. New World wines dominate but there are some French and Italian selections as well.

The Mac & Cheese at 12th Ave Grill is creamy and luscious plus the crunchy bread crumb top adds the perfect texture - you can really pile on the comfort by adding sauteed mushrooms and/or Black Forest ham. Brie Bruschetta is another excellent choice to start your meal with its appealing mix of flavors.

On to the food. The appetizers arrived and from that moment on it was every man and his fork for himself. The famous Mac & Cheese ($5.95) with a creamy blend of white cheeses was almost instantly appropriated by the three year-old. We did the smart thing and ordered another one. The Brie Bruschetta ($8.95) topped with fresh tomatoes, olives and fresh basil reminded me of why simple dishes are so hard to do well and so magical when they are. When you only have a few ingredients they must be perfect - crusty bread with a yeasty warmth, brie with a mellow smoothness, juicy ripe tomatoes bursting with fresh flavor, briny olives for bite and the heady perfume of aromatic basil. If any of these had been inferior, the dish would have been acceptable, but everything was good and that made this simple dish a pleasure to eat.

Calamari Fritti

Calamari Fritti ($8.95) appeared and it was very nicely presented with a zesty roasted tomato sauce providing a colorful and tasteful counterpoint to the rather bland cephalopod. The drizzle of garlic aioli across the top added yet another layer of flavor. I like fried calamari very much, but I do prefer one that has a less thick coating. It's really just a matter of personal preference as the batter was crisp and light in taste without a hint of excess oil. The squid itself was surprisingly tender.

For entrees we selected the single most raved about item on the menu, Kim Chee Marinated Skirt Steak ($18.95) and a less heralded salmon dish, Hickory Roasted Organic King Salmon ($19.95). Every single person and every single food writer who has eaten it has gone on and on about the Kim Chee steak. In fact, I simply refused to order it on my first visit as I really wanted to try other things like the Cinnamon Braised Short Ribs ($19.95) and the Grilled Pork Chop ($19.75). [Please forgive a brief detour to dinners past. I highly recommend the ribs. They were fork-tender and the scent and taste of cinnamon enhanced the beef so well that it reminded me of old-fashioned mincemeat. The pork chop was perfect but the accompanying potato pancake suffered from an overly-generous dousing of horseradish crème fraiche - next time I'd have them skip it or bring it on the side. The photo of the pork chop was taken at a different time and illustrates the proper amount.]

The dish 12th Ave is most known for, Kim Chee Marinated Skirt Steak. The name is somewhat misleading as there is no really noticeable kim chee taste to the meat, just a nice bright flavor without a hint of spicy heat.

And now, back to the steak. I'm glad we ordered it this evening so I finally understand what everyone has been raving about. A near fork-fight ensued as the just slightly less than medium-rare slices were greedily consumed. The chef did a brilliant job of cooking this meat to its optimum temperature, ensuring full flavor and the right amount of chew. The meat is well-seasoned but not spicy and the kim chee flavor is so subtle you probably wouldn't recognize it as kim chee if it didn't say so on the menu. The vegetable melange accompanying the beef was a bit overdone and would have been a better complement to the dish if it had retained a touch of crispness.

Seafood is always on the menu and this Hickory Roasted Organic King Salmon is a favorite. Tuesday evenings you'll find trout and there are typically interesting shrimp and mahi mahi offerings every evening.

The salmon paled in comparison but it was a worthy dish that salmon lovers would surely appreciate. The portion was a very nice-sized filet and the goat cheese crust balanced the strong salmon flavor while the fresh corn, roasted potatoes and shrimp in a mustard-dill sauce it was resting atop pulled the whole dish together.

Before moving on to the desserts I would like to make mention of the outstanding job the entire staff and kitchen did in accommodating the children. Just one example of several I could mention will suffice. We asked our server if it would be possible for them to make a grilled cheese sandwich. He said he would check with the kitchen and when he returned he told us that they only had a couple of cheeses that might be suitable and suggested the milder of the two. The sandwich was presented just as carefully as any of the other dishes and looked so appetizing that we all had a bite before passing it on to the children.

A fruit crisp created from fresh seasonal fruit is a menu mainstay, the one above was white nectarine and pear. The dessert special varies each evening and this night it was a warm Lemon Pudding Cake with Berries.

It's time for dessert. We ordered from the regular dessert menu (all desserts are $6.95) the following items: Double Lemon Pie with Minted Strawberry Compote; Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Tartlett; Seasonal Fruit Crisp with fresh Whipped Cream, the fruit that day was white nectarines; and the Dessert of the Day, Lemon Pudding Cake with Berries.

I have a preference for lemon and the Double Lemon Pie is close to being the Holy Grail of desserts to me - a trifecta of fluffy lemon chiffon that evaporates in your mouth while the smooth lemon filling enlivens your taste buds and the tender butter crust rounds out the experience. The cardinal sin committed against lemon pie filling by less skilled cooks is the propensity to compensate for tartness with too much sugar. Sami is not guilty of this culinary travesty. Her lemon filling is a masterpiece of balance as the lemon dominates without being sour nor cloyingly sweet. She also has the rare ability to not over-sweeten the chiffon. Bringing it all together is a crust so tender and flaky you don't even notice it's there until you realize that gentle ending of buttery goodness as you consume each bite comes from the pastry crust. Can you tell I loved it?

I have a friend who blames this Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Tartlett for an extra five pounds! Once you taste it you'll understand how you could get addicted to this dessert.

The Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Tartlett is a favorite of a friend of mine and I cannot see how this could possibly be improved upon. When you think about peanut butter and chocolate, they are natural flavor companions, and then you toss in the fresh banana which serves to enliven the rather dense flavors. It also doesn't hurt that Sami creates a creamy mousse-like filling of the peanut butter and puts it in a crust made from home-made graham crackers. This dessert would be very good without the fresh bananas but the addition of them elevates it to a 'must try' dessert.

A crisp made from seasonally available fruit has been on the 12th Ave Grill since they opened their doors nearly two years ago. This evening it featured white nectarines (some of the first of the season) and pears. We particularly enjoyed the crunchy oatmeal-based topping which provided a nice textural contrast to the soft fruit. We may have over-indulged by getting ice cream with this, but it seemed like a rational decision at the time.

The last of the desserts was the Lemon Pudding Cake which was served with blueberries. Baked in a ramekin, this cake was not the leaden pudding cakes I recall from childhood which were more like soggy messes than a desirable dessert. Proving again her mastery of lemons, the cake was full-flavored with a medium crumb that played off the velvety pudding center with just the right amount of softness. A simple, elegant dessert.

The dynamic duo in the kitchen are chef Kevin Dee (l) and chef/owner Kevin Hanney.

All in all, we had an excellent experience at 12th Ave Grill. As mentioned earlier in the review, I anticipate the promised changes to the food menu. It's good to retain some popular dishes like the Mac & Cheese and the Kim Chee Steak but it's also important to keep upping the culinary ante to revitalize diners' taste buds. With the solid talents of chef/owner Kevin Hanney, and the fresh infusion of proven culinary skills from Kevin Dee and Samantha Choy, the future is bright for this unpretentious eatery.

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