The address is 22 Ross Common. For years it held Crown & Crumpet, a tearoom whose owners, Amy and Christopher Dean, described it as "a stylish room with tea and wit." In late February, a writer for the tea blog parTEA with me heard the tearoom was closing and booked a table for the day before its last service. She ordered toasted crumpets and Stardust tea, then sent readers to the Marin Art and Garden Center to find the shop's pop-ups.
That advice turned out to describe where Ross was heading. This is the Common's first holiday season without a sit-down tearoom. The slow, social afternoons it used to host now happen on a schedule, with tickets, on the grounds of the Marin Art and Garden Center at 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. The storefronts that remain on the Common have their own hours, and those hours shape the day around each garden session.
The Kettle Moved
Crown & Crumpet is still running. Its homepage says the business "no longer has a traditional brick-and-mortar tearoom, the kettle is still very much on," and that it now runs pop-ups, private parties, catering and special events around the Bay Area. Its fall schedule shows how much of that work comes back to Ross. A Pink Halloween tea was held at the Marin Art & Garden on Sunday, October 25. A Friends of the Forest Tea Party is set there for Saturday, November 21. The Crown & Crumpet site still lists the November 21 ticket link as coming soon, so check that page before you plan the day around it.
The rest of Crown & Crumpet's November is out of the county. There's a pop-up afternoon tea at the InterContinental in downtown San Francisco on November 7 and an etiquette collaboration in Napa on November 8. In Marin, the tea now happens at the garden.
November at the Garden Is a Month of Small Sessions
Crown & Crumpet's tea is one item on a busy month at the garden. The Marin Art and Garden Center has filled November with workshops that mostly run two hours, and the prices range from free to more than $100. Here is the month in order:
- Friday, November 6, 3 to 5 p.m.: Haiku in the Garden, Autumn. A free writing gathering for all ages, hosted by Jayne McPherson. Children under 14 need an adult with them.
- Saturday, November 14, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.: The Reset, Autumn Sound Bath. Held in The Studio. Bring a yoga mat and warm layers. Tickets are listed at $49.77.
- Thursday, November 19, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.: Make a Paper Poppy Bouquet. Materials are included, and participants under 14 need a parent or guardian. Tickets are listed at $71.09.
- Friday, November 20, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Garden to Cup, Grow, Blend, and Gift Your Own Herbal Tea. Led by Jill Sowards. Participants mix their own herbal blends. Tickets are listed at $103.07.
- Saturday, November 21: Crown & Crumpet's Friends of the Forest Tea Party. Ticket link pending.
- Sunday, November 22, 10 a.m. to noon: Gourds and Gratitude, a Thanksgiving centerpiece workshop. The first pumpkin arrangement costs $40 and each additional one costs $25. Pumpkins are available on request while supplies last.
The garden also lists Autumn Cookie Decorating sessions for kids, marked only as "multiple dates." Those dates appear on the Events and Programs page.
Two of these sessions are about tea, and both fall in the same week. The herbal blending class on Friday the 20th and the tea party on Saturday the 21st put a tearoom's worth of programming into back-to-back days, on grounds that charge no admission. The haiku afternoon is the one session that costs nothing. It's also the first date on the calendar, on Friday, November 6.
Who Runs the Common's Hours Now
The garden sets the start and end of each session. The businesses on the Common decide what you can do before and after. The newest one also has history with the oldest.
Cecilio Dominguez and his wife and business partner, Alba Carranza, opened Taqueria Marin in December 2025. As the Marin Independent Journal reported, it took over the downtown space left empty when Trattoria Fresco closed in 2024. Before opening his own restaurants, Dominguez spent seven years at Marché, then called Marché Aux Fleurs, and worked his way up from pantry cook to sous chef. Former Marché owner Dan Baker told the IJ:
"I am so happy for his success in Larkspur and love that his second place is a couple doors down from Marché."
The taqueria is a counter-service room with about 20 seats inside and a few turquoise bistro tables on the sidewalk. The IJ described lime green walls and fuchsia ceiling beams. The menu covers burritos ordered mojado, California style or as a bowl, plus birria, tortilla or lentil soup, breakfast tortas, house-made hibiscus agua fresca and horchata. The Taqueria Marin site lists 13 Ross Common, open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and closed Sunday.
Marché, at 23 Ross Common, is the dinner reservation. Its site lists dinner Tuesday through Sunday, with hours that differ by night. Book through the site rather than counting on a walk-in.
Matching November's Sessions to What's Open
Put the garden's calendar next to those hours and most of the month's sessions line up with a meal on the Common:
- Friday, November 6. Haiku ends at 5 p.m. That leaves time for an early taco before the taqueria's 8 p.m. close, or a Friday dinner at Marché.
- Saturday, November 14. The sound bath ends at 7:30 p.m., so book Marché's Saturday dinner ahead or pick up from the taqueria before 6:30. The taqueria closes at 8 p.m.
- Friday, November 20. The herbal tea class lets out at 12:30 p.m., right in the taqueria's daytime hours. The class and lunch fit together easily.
- Sunday, November 22. The centerpiece workshop ends at noon on the one day the taqueria is closed. Plan lunch elsewhere.
The Thursday poppy class is the only session that runs into weeknight dinner hours, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Dinner that night means a reservation made ahead.
Where the Sessions Happen
The grounds are free to enter and open daily from sunrise to sunset. The Visit Us page lists the parking lot and public restrooms as open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. That page has been up for several years, so check it before an evening session. Dogs are allowed on a leash and must stay on the paths, off the lawns, and out of the planting beds and ponds.
Ticketed visits to this garden have a long history. The center's self-guided tour says the Bottle House started as the ticket booth for the 1948 Marin Art and Garden Fair and later became an antiques shop. The tour also identifies the Octagon House as the home of the Jose Moya del Pino Library.
December Has a Registration Date
November's small sessions lead into the garden's biggest program. Winter Wonderland runs December 4 through 23, 2026. The lineup includes botanical collage, holiday card making, ornament painting, wreathmaking, gingerbread houses, botanical printmaking, a winter sound bath, an immersive winter puppetry show, a Shop Local Winter Market, and a Crown & Crumpet Holiday Tea. The garden said registration would open at the end of October. By now, the December dates may already be filling.
Crown & Crumpet's holiday tea is part of that lineup. The tearoom left its storefront in February, but its tea is back on the garden's calendar for December.
Ross Common has changed this year. 22 Ross Common no longer has its tearoom, and a former Marché sous chef now runs a taqueria a couple of doors from his old kitchen. Nick Svenson follows changes like these on Ross Common and along Sir Francis Drake for neighbors who want to know what they mean for their own street. If you'd like to talk through how this year's changes on the Common affect your plans in Ross or Kentfield, Livein415 is glad to help. Schedule a 15-minute consultation.
