Paulino Monterroso got his start in Tiburon in 1992, washing dishes at the former New Morning Cafe. He has owned Salt & Pepper at 38 Main St. since 2010. On Nov. 17, the Tiburon Peninsula Chamber of Commerce will present the restaurant with its 2026 Business of the Year award, the first time Salt & Pepper has received it, according to The Ark.

That award lands at the end of a year that rearranged lower Main Street. The two restaurants that gave downtown its celebrity-chef reputation both lost their founding operators within a month of each other. The operator who took over at 5 Main St. now says he wants a restaurant people visit several times a week. Salt & Pepper has run that way for 16 years.

Two chef names left downtown in one month

Petite Left Bank, the smaller French brasserie that carried Roland Passot's name, closed June 22 after nearly four years in business. That was the same day its parent company, Vine Hospitality, shut down all seven of its Bay Area restaurants. The Ark reported that this was the second time in a month that one of downtown Tiburon's two celebrated-chef restaurants had lost its founding operator.

The first was the Bungalow Kitchen. Michael Mina and Hollywood nightclub owner Brent Bolthouse opened it in November 2021 at 5 Main St., the waterfront building that once housed Guaymas. On June 1, the Mina Group handed operations to Clive Collective, a hospitality group based in Scottsdale, Arizona. The restaurant kept its name and stayed open through the transition.

Passot and Mina have both won James Beard Awards and Michelin stars. Both restaurants sit in buildings owned by A&C Ventures, which The Ark says had set out to make downtown a fine-dining destination by recruiting chefs with national reputations. When the Bungalow handoff was announced, A&C Ventures president and CEO SG Ellison said he was confident the new team would lead "this beloved community staple into its next great era."

What the new operator at 5 Main St. says he's building

Clive Collective is new to the Bay Area. Tiburon is its first venture outside Arizona, where its restaurants include Cala, a modern Mediterranean restaurant; The Americano, an Italian-inspired steakhouse; and Tell Your Friends, a cocktail and live-music lounge. The co-founder running the Tiburon restaurant, Justin Massei, lives in San Francisco and grew up in the Bay Area.

About a month after taking over, Massei laid out his plans in an interview with The Ark. He wanted to add weekday lunch once staffing allowed, fully revamp the menu, bring prices "down a little bit" and hold a community event where residents could meet the team and taste new dishes. He described his priorities this way:

"Step one, really, is getting to know our community. That's like the No. 1 thing for us is to reconnect with the neighbors, let them know that we're here, shake hands, introduce ourselves, listen and learn a bit for these first 30, 45 days."

He told the paper his goal is a restaurant diners can visit multiple times a week.

Some of those plans now appear on the restaurant's own pages. The Bungalow Kitchen's site describes lunch and weekend brunch as newly launched. The restaurant's lunch page lists the restaurant as closed Monday and open Tuesday from 5 to 9 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. The site doesn't date those hours, so it's worth checking before you go. The current menu adds a raw bar with sushi rolls and seafood alongside American-style classics. A listing on The Marin Dish for the Sept. 19 and 20 weekend advertised a $49 prix-fixe brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., served every Saturday and Sunday.

Lunch, brunch and lower prices are what a regular uses, and the restaurant now serves daytime hours five days a week.

Salt & Pepper has worked that way since 2010

Up the street at 38 Main St., Salt & Pepper has run that model the whole time. The Chamber's event page calls it a favorite gathering place with more than 15 years of service. Its reasons for the award are the restaurant's hospitality, its support for Chamber events and local fundraisers, and its help to schools and nonprofits.

Recognition arrived before the Chamber's ceremony. Bank of Marin's annual Spirit of Marin Awards, which honor chamber award winners from across the county, recognized Salt & Pepper at the bank's Sept. 17 luncheon in San Rafael. Monterroso, who lives in San Rafael, told The Ark in an interview conducted mostly in Spanish that the recognition "is well deserved by all the other businesses, especially as it's our first year receiving this."

The Chamber's celebration is Tuesday, Nov. 17, from 5 to 7 p.m.

The newer doors on Main Street are small and run by locals

The openings of the past year and a half follow the same pattern as Salt & Pepper: small spaces, owners or managers with ties to town, and goods meant for regular use.

• F.L. Woods, 21A Main St. The maritime clothing brand's original store opened in 1938 in Marblehead, Massachusetts, and Tiburon is its second location. Owner Wayne George's son Josh George, a Tiburon resident, runs the store with his partner Marie Bergsund, granddaughter of former Tiburon Mayor Joan Bergsund. The shelves hold quarter-zip sweaters, mariner jackets, hats and belts, plus postcards and navigational charts. The Ark reported it open as of mid-June.
• Highlow Larder, 32 Main St. A tabletop, kitchen and gift store that opened May 31, 2025, per the Marin IJ.
• Paradise Coffee, 1775 Tiburon Blvd. A grab-and-go coffee and food trailer at Point Tiburon Plaza, opened in late April 2026, according to The Ark.
• Pelican Pro Fitness, 1599 Tiburon Blvd. The Planning Commission approved this 1,800-square-foot personal-training studio on Oct. 14 for the long-vacant storefront next to CVS. Owner Nick Price said he hoped to open once town permitting allows, The Ark reported, so for now it's a plan, not an open business.

One small door also closed this fall. The Caviar Co. ended service at its 46A Main St. tasting room after Oct. 18, more than five years into its run on lower Main Street. Owner Petra Higby of Belvedere marked the final weekend with hot dogs and other treats. Local delivery continues, and orders still go through thecaviarco.com, The Ark reported.

November and early December, by date

Downtown's calendar from now through Dec. 5 is mostly local in scale. One thing to plan around is the Angel Island–Tiburon Ferry schedule. In November and December it runs on weekends only, plus two holiday dates, with no regularly scheduled Monday through Friday service.

The Chamber's Holiday Festival listing includes Santa photos, face painting, gingerbread-house decorating, Main Street shopping and a toddler train, weather permitting. That afternoon puts the whole street to use at once. Shoppers can stop at F.L. Woods and Highlow Larder, Salt & Pepper will be a few weeks past its award, and the Bungalow Kitchen will be six months into its new operator's plan to fill its dining room with regulars.

At Tam Home Team, we follow Main Street's changes the way our neighbors do, one storefront at a time. If you're curious how this fall's shifts on the Tiburon Peninsula relate to your own plans, get your instant home valuation or schedule a consultation, and we'll talk it through over coffee downtown.