Kevin Hanney of 12th Ave Grill has a knack for spotting talent and giving promising food and drink specialists the run of his bars and kitchens.

The latest are chef Robert Paik and bar manager Joseph Arakawa, tasked with making sister establishment Avenue’s Bar + Eatery the go-to neighborhood bar at the top of the hill.

Following more experimental menus at SALT Kitchen & Tasting Bar, and Hale Ohuna, Avenue’s marks a return to basics, starting with what’s popular with the built-in focus group of bar patrons at 12th Ave Grill.

Some great burgers and sandwiches had me at hello, but the question was, how could a chef who worked at top-tier Vintage Cave find fulfillment serving up bar fare?

It turns out the opening menu is an approachable, getting-to-know-you flirtation as patrons and host find their comfort zone before taking the relationship up a notch with seasonal menus. Lighter, more refined options are likely to be introduced in early summer. As with any new relationship, I’m excited by the possibilities.

In the here and now, I like what I see. Starting downstairs at the bar, Arakawa is a guy’s guy, an Army Reserve sergeant who joined straight out of Leilehua High School and at 25 has served two tours overseas. He is a lover of stories and adventure, with just the right amount of nerd. He draws his cocktail inspiration from history, popular culture and fellow mixologists to create libations both clever and lush. A rare combination. Too many barkeeps — in the name of “craft” — throw together ingredients that would make no sense on a plate, much less in a glass.

Sit at the bar and Arakawa can regale you with the background of some of his $10 cocktail creations, such as Sages + Monks, with sage-infused vodka and yellow chartreuse, originally concocted in 1737 by Carthusian monks for the medicinal qualities of the 130 herbs, plants and flowers that go into it.

Or you might make sense of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” reference in The Sparrow + The Lord, which starts with chai-infused rum.

Grab a bite downstairs or head upstairs for your meal. There you’ll find many pleasures await, starting with an antipasto plate ($16) of pepperoni, mozzarella, pickled Ho Farms okra and carrots (the okra is a revelation), and marinated tomatoes and olives, all made in-house. OK, I have given Avenue’s four stars for value, although I know people sometimes have a problem with the star ratings because things like pepperoni, mozzarella or a burger can be deceptively simple if you don’t understand the time, effort and technique it takes to make these items from scratch.

Most popular of the snacks are the chipotle barbecue jidori chicken wings ($13) served with slices of Granny Smith apples to tame the heat.

Smoked ahi stuffed with piquillo peppers ($12) make a cool dish that finds more use for Hanney’s popular smoked ahi spread. Deviled eggs ($8) are always a personal favorite, and here they are topped with vinegar-marinated white anchovies.

With so many things on the menu, you probably don’t need the crisp fried oysters ($13). When I ordered them, Paik was serving voluptuous Goose Points with a harissa cocktail sauce and bacon jam.

One of the simpler dishes, a Cobb salad ($14), wasn’t chopped, but built on individual leaves of greens that proved unwieldy to eat. By the time we figured that it would probably be easiest to pick up each sheaf and roll it, it was too late. That’s why chefs shouldn’t take too many liberties with the tried and true. We don’t need Cobb or Caesar salads to be reinvented.

From the fryer come more winning dishes, starting with light and fresh beer-battered fish and chips ($24), the fries hand cut. It’s served with a side of kim chee Brussels sprouts that sounded interesting but was no more special than your basic Napa cabbage kim chee; the texture was coarser.

Jidori buttermilk fried chicken ($18) is the tender, flavorful result of two days of brining, soaking in buttermilk and being seasoned with Old Bay, mustard and granulated garlic. It’s served with biscuits and an Ewa corn and bacon gravy mixture that has the flavor and weight of corn chowder.

Maui Cattle Co. beef burgers are on the menu, but my favorite sandwiches have nothing to do with hamburger. I crave the Ni‘ihau lamb Mediterranean burger ($16) stuffed with sun-dried tomatoes and feta, topped with Nalo arugula and Meyer lemon aioli; the Ho Farms lemongrass pork burger ($14) with the flavor of a Vietnamese sausage and topped with Sumida Farms kim chee watercress and sambal aioli; and Hawaii Ranchers pastrami ($15). I was just talking to a gentleman who lamented that no one serves New York-size pastrami sandwiches locally, but what this sandwich lacks in layers, it makes up for in flavor and crisp, buttery toasted bread. It is fantastic.

Not to be overlooked is the scallion pesto steamed tofu ($16), perhaps the one dish created for the vegetarian set that also managed to please this omnivore. It riffs off the typical Chinese ginger-scallion sauce, then adds a Mexican-style bell pepper sauce for interest, binding them with a Tamari three-pepper soy vinaigrette. Somehow the combination is magical.

For dessert there are Manoa chocolate-filled, nontraditional beignets ($8), which resemble more closely the shape of a turnover. These are drizzled in Valhrona chocolate and accompanied by Maui Brewing Co. Coconut Porter dipping sauce. It’s heavy but worth a try if you somehow manage to save some room in your opu.