Hidden in a mostly industrial stretch of Petaluma, Pearl is not the kind of restaurant you stumble upon. You arrive here because your friend can’t stop raving about it. Its reputation has grown almost entirely by word of mouth, passed from regular to regular like a closely guarded recipe.
“I love being tucked away in a corner,” said co-owner Annette Yang, a constant presence at the daytime-only bistro.
If Pearl is open, Yang will be there — greeting guests, mixing drinks, serving food and refilling water glasses, often clearing your table at the end of the meal. It’s a true owner-operated restaurant, with Yang’s husband, chef Brian Leitner, dancing between the wood-fired oven and the range with practiced precision.
The menu ranges from Levantine-spiced brisket and Persian meatball tagine (both $27) to shakshuka ($25) and Moroccan rice pudding ($12). Pearl knows precisely what it is, even if that identity can be harder to articulate for the uninitiated. Shakshuka, after all, is not a dish you’ll find on a Denny’s menu…