Commuters and those with a South Shore view are acquainted with the construction reshaping the Ward/Kakaako area. Just as transformational — if somewhat out of eye-shot for those who make avoidance of Waikiki a mission — are the changes taking place on Kuhio Avenue, which promises to one day match the gloss of Kala­kaua Avenue.

The makeover started with the mauka entrance to the International Market Place and arrival of anchor tenant Saks Fifth Avenue, followed by the opening of the Ritz-Carlton Residences in the Ewa direction. The Waikiki Trade Center is gone, and in its place stands the new Hyatt Centric Hotel. A few doors away, The Laylow hotel has opened, offering a nostalgic tribute to the golden era of Hawaii travel, the 1950s and ’60s, when the state had few rivals for visitors’ affection and “tourism” was not yet a dirty word because there was space and infrastructure to accommodate all.

The new hotel brings back warm, fuzzy feelings of Hawaii as we wish it to be, in line with the nation’s yearning to retreat to a “great” booming, post-World War II America. It may all have been an illusory idyll, but the hotel’s midcentury modern, Vladimir Ossipoff- inspired rooms provide a space you don’t want to leave. True to the theme, the hotel’s Hideout restaurant and lounge offers a casual Hawaii/Pacific Rim menu ending perfectly with a take on the retro pineapple upside-down cake.

Chef Bryan Byard manages to hit the right notes in elevating island-style plate-lunch classics to suit a stylish international crowd. His roots are in New Mexico, but he delivers credible offerings of kalua pork, poke and other island favorites without scaring off tourists trying local flavors for the first time.

It’s all an elevator or escalator ride up from the street on the hotel’s lobby level, just past Duke’s Lane (undergoing a makeover of its own) if coming from the west. You can lounge over drinks and pupu at a sand bar with fire pit or opt for indoor or outdoor table seating in a relaxing patio setting.

For now, lunch and dinner menus are the same, save for heavier entrees available only from 5 to 10 p.m.

Start with a scoop of Guacamame ($10), which combines avocado and edamame with a fresh burst of lime, over taro and sweet-potato chips. It’s perfectly suited to the warmer weather soon to come.

An appetizer of crisp pork belly ($13) is a crowd-pleaser, but the dish is more accurately described as Brussels sprouts with pork belly. The meat is only a supporting act here. I didn’t mind because I love Brussels sprouts, and they’re done up well, tossed with a sweet soy sauce. The pork might be crisp in the kitchen, but it’s not by the time it reaches the table, under the weight of the greens and sauce.

Kiawe-smoked pork ribs ($12) are another favorite, tender but somewhat dry. A tart, taco-style barbecue sauce is served on the side to give diners more control over the ratio of pork flavor to sauce.

Ahi tataki ($14) is another summer-ready dish, light with a decorative drizzle of ginger-soy. An accompanying layer of pickled papaya salad makes up for the scant sauce. And if that hint of a salad is not enough, go all the way with a green papaya salad ($14) with the Vietnamese dipping sauce nuoc cham, topped with spicy chicken.

For some, summer calls for little more than a salad, appetizer and shared flatbread, about 10 inches long and generously quartered. The Tiki ($16) is topped with kalua pork, pineapple, coconut cream, spiced macadamia nuts and goat cheese. The Korean, with bulgogi and kim chee ($16), didn’t have as much of a kick as the Thai, with its heated combination of spiced chicken and a red curry peanut sauce ($16).

A Mainlander burger ($14) is straightforward, with just the basics of American cheese, lettuce, onion, tomato and Sriracha aioli. It’s the wagyu beef patty that makes it juicier and a bit more flavorful than your average hamburger.

A local-oriented version, the Mauna Kea, comes topped with kalua pork, a fried egg, pineapple and barbecue sauce.

Rice eaters might be better sated with local-style chirashi, rice bowls topped with kim chee, local greens, a fried egg and choice of fish (market priced), ahi poke ($19), rib-eye bulgogi ($20), barbecue chicken ($17) or kalua pork ($18).

There’s a lot of heft to meat dishes such as miso-glazed prime rib-eye ($35) and coconut porter short ribs served over creamy Okinawan sweet potatoes ($26). Seafood dishes round out the menu, and my absolute favorite is the coconut curry seafood stew of Kauai prawns, fish of the day, mussels and Manila clams in a lime-infused Thai-style soupy curry, also great for a summer day.

A coconut panna cotta ($9) with lilikoi puree and mango boba is another of the restaurant’s greatest hits, but I crave the pineapple upside-down cake because it’s one of those nostalgic desserts we don’t realize we miss until we see and taste it again.

I look forward to returning to try the restaurant’s breakfasts of omelets and Benedicts, and perhaps in time Byard can be coaxed to make some of the chorizo he grew up with.

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