Under new ownership, the soft yellow glow in the windows and warm smell of food has returned to Pearl’s Foggy Mountain Café.

Pearl’s previous owners closed the restaurant in mid-2016, but Brian Beathard, the building’s owner, and his business partner Robert Tyler, have re-opened a new restaurant with the same name.

As employees folded napkins the day before the grand opening of Dec. 20 at 5 p.m., Tyler, who recently moved from Nashville to Manchester, talked about the new Pearl’s.

“I’ve been in the restaurant business for 35 years,” he said. “This menu, it’s not a big menu, but I can confidently say everything on this menu is amazing. There’s not a single thing on this menu I wouldn’t eat and say, ‘that was awesome.’”

Tyler White is the sous chef and Cliff Ward, who was sous chef at the previous Pearl’s and at Easy Bistro and St. John’s in Chattanooga, is the new chef.

“It’s good food made simple with a little southern flair; it’s French and Southern infused,” is how Ward describes Pearl’s food.

Ward’s signature dish is the braised beef brisket and he also recommends the stuffed trout. Most food items are made from scratch, including salad dressings, garlic aioli and fresh homemade breads from baker Anna Flatt.

The primary brand of the restaurant is “farm to table,” working with local farmers and producers, Tyler noted. Pearl’s will also feature local artists on the walls.

“Everybody that I’ve met up here has been super nice and encouraging, which has just melted my heart for the community here,” Tyler said. “I always wanted to do a restaurant that got strongly involved with the community, but this community is embracing this restaurant so much that it makes it easy.”

Gone is the carpeting in favor of hardwood flooring and there is no bar in the new Pearl’s, but the restaurant welcomes BYOB, bring-your-own alcoholic beverage. Tyler said the restaurant plans to add a beer and wine license in 2017.

Pearl’s, which was a longtime fixture between Sewanee and Monteagle off Highway 41A, re-opened in 2012 under the leadership of Dan and Joy Hickey. The Hickeys closed the restaurant earlier this year. Tyler said its serendipitous that he now finds himself at the helm, because he and his wife had a beloved bulldog named Pearl that passed away and they had talked about opening a restaurant with the same name.

Pearl’s hours are Tuesday through Thursday, 5 to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m. They plan to add a Sunday brunch in January. The restaurant’s phone number is (931) 463-2222.