Given the fractured nature of media today, it’s hard for any entity to blanket a community with news of interest.

Not everyone got the memo that 12th Ave Grill has a new address. In trying to find parking for the newly sited restaurant, now occupying the old Victoria Inn, I found my path blocked by a car parked right in front of the restaurant’s now-dark former location, with a woman standing outside reading a message on the door.

Many others have taken the same detour before finding their way to the restaurant. So consider this formal notice of the change of address.

With this move, Kevin Hanney comes ever closer to cornering the restaurant market around this particular block of Kaimuki. In addition to founding SALT Bar & Kitchen, he has plans to create a breakfast and lunch spot in his former space at 1145 12th Ave.

But that’s a story for a later date. For now, fans of the restaurant will find executive chef Jason Schoonover’s American bistro fare still in place.

What’s changed is the new space has room to accommodate about twice the number of diners, at 50 in the main room, about 26 at the bar and up to 30 in a private glassed-in dining room that will be perfect for the coming holiday party season.

All traces of the nearly 40-year-old Victoria Inn have been replaced after a $1 million renovation that includes a sleek bar, wood flooring and some comfy booths in addition to contemporary seating with plenty of breathing room. In the former tight quarters, you couldn’t help eavesdropping on others’ conversations, so the open space is a luxury. They’re still awaiting new signage that will complete the transformation.

The menu transformation has been underway for years. While the restaurant opened with old-fashioned sauced meats and sides, the cuisine today is far more creative, with layers of ingredients that titillate the palate, starting with small plates such as seared kampachi crudo ($13) topped with coriander and lime dust and cilantro, with the crunch of garlic chips and potato strings, the heat of pickled serrano chimichurri and a burst of salt. The crunchy bits might be considered extraneous but didn’t interfere with the beautifully complex herb-and-citrus flavor profile.

There are likely many who will be happy to see the baked macaroni and cheese ($7) still on the menu, with options of adding sauteed Ali’i mushrooms ($2) or Black Forest ham ($2.50).

If you want more than a basic salad, the ABCLT ($12) is also back, Kula butter lettuce cups filled with avocado, truffled crab salad, Nalo tomatoes and a sprinkling of bacon.

This is the perfect season for the chef’s warm, saturated and smoky flavors reminiscent of the outdoors or a hunting lodge.

One of the sources of protein I’m seeing crop up on more and more menus is rabbit, now that Shinsato Farms has added it to its roster of specialties, and there’s no better introduction than a special here of apple wood bacon-wrapped rabbit loin ($14) served over a salad of frisee and rabbit belly pancetta. The rabbit comprises manageable 2-inch bites with the texture of turkey, and you’ll be tasting more of the smoke off the bacon than the rabbit itself, served over a pecorino bearnaise.

And they haven’t forgotten the farms’ initial claim to fame. A crisp confit ($12) of Shinsato pork belly is topped with Maui dark rum pineapple over Kunia Country Farms dandelion greens, and a perfectly poached Ka Lei egg yolk on the side.

"Big Plate" entrees range from Maui Cattle Co. beef tenderloin served with a green pepper Dijon sauce ($29) to slices of tender smoked duck ($26) served over pink peppercorn tagliatelle. Less successful was the lavender-scented Hawaiian kampachi ($29). Any trace of lavender was hard to separate from the melange on the plate, including a Ho Farms tomato-preserved lemon confiture. There was just too much going on.

The smoke doesn’t dissipate with the dessert menu. One of the top choices is a smoked Manoa Chocolate flan ($8), which brings out the earthy quality of Alae Estate Big Island chocolate. It’s served with Kau orange caramel.

I happened to dine here with a person who prefers to start with dessert first, opting for the lilikoi mochi cake a la mode ($8) as an appetizer. The butter mochi is neither too sweet nor sour, but just right, and works well coming or going. The notion of spoiling dinner by starting with dessert proved untrue.

The restaurant offers a comprehensive wine and bar menu, and to entice you further, a special bar menu is in place from 10 to 11 p.m. nightly. Recent standouts include a trio of twice-cooked duck wings ($6), duck and Small Kine Farms crimini mushroom pate ($8) and the 12th Ave. meatloaf melt ($9) of Maui Cattle Co. beef served with taleggio cheese and the sting of pickled serrano chilis, best inserted into the sandwich.

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Nadine Kam’s restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser. Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com.