If you’re searching for a spot that serves terrific comfort food, look no further than Napa’s Pearl.

Proprietors Nickie and Pete Zeller and their culinary team have been dishing up regional American and Mexican-accented fare for more than a decade at their Pearl Street restaurant. And they’ve mustered quite a following.

Prior to that, they welcomed diners to their Brown Street Grill, which they operated for six years. Before the Zellers decided to open their own eateries, the pair worked side by side at the legendary Diner in Yountville.

The Zellers readily admit they’d be lost if they didn’t have a restaurant to run. “We don’t know how to do anything else,” Pete declares with self-effacing grin. “Nor would we want to.”

Pearl is not a tourist hangout. “Our local following is our bread and butter,” says Nickie, as she sets a dining room table with utensils and glassware. “It’s our local customers who bring in their families and friends. They’re the people we look forward to seeing again and again.”

Now in their 11th year as proprietors of Pearl, Nickie and Pete Zeller are still tempting palates with comforting dishes like apple/Dijon mustard brined pork chops with mashed potatoes, Dungeness crab louie, steak au poivre with roasted Yukon gold potatoes, mushroom and asparagus lasagne and chef de cuisine Jose Bravo Guzman’s “famous” chicken verde.

The current winter menu features meatloaf made with Hobbs Italian fennel sausage, topped with shiitake mushroom gravy; Moroccan lamb shanks served with preserved lemon on soft polenta; red wine-braised Tuscan pepper beef with pancetta; and blood orange-scented beef short ribs braised in red wine and veal stock.

Eager for a couple of recipes for ultimate comfort food, we looked to Pearl and the Zellers. They agreed to share with Register readers recipes for a potato and goat cheese gratin — the ideal accompaniment for roasted meats — plus one for sage and sherry creamed mushrooms on griddled polenta triangles.

“The sage and sherry sauce is really versatile,” Nickie notes. “We’ve used it to accompany grilled fish, like mahi-mahi, for chicken, and even served it with mushrooms on grilled foccacia. You could put it on cardboard and it would make the cardboard taste good.”

As for the gratin, she maintains it’s a simple recipe that should not frighten home cooks. “There’s a good ratio of ingredients and it’s really simple to prepare.”

For a recent holiday menu, the Zellers served the gratin with bacon-wrapped beef fillet, napped with a red wine sauce.

“You can make the gratin a day ahead of serving it,” Nickie adds. “Then you can microwave it for one to two minutes, or cover it with foil and reheat it in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Just make sure it’s at room temperature when you put it in the oven. If the top’s not real brown, then you can leave the foil off. Just check it a couple of times while it’s reheating.”

Over the years, the couple’s roles have changed. For a long time, including their days at Brown Street Grill, Pete served as chef and Nickie ran the front of the house. Now, with the help of Guzman — who’s been with the Zellers for 15 years — they’ve reversed roles at the popular 40-seat eatery.

Pearl is open Tuesday through Saturday, offering lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., with dinner served from 5:30 until 9 p.m. weekdays, until 9:30 on Fridays and Saturdays.

The restaurant is located at the intersection of Pearl and Franklin streets. For reservations, call 224-9161.