How it works
When is Marlow Tastes© 2024?
Your Marlow Tastes adventure takes place on Tuesday 30th April 2024 between 6pm and about 10.30pm.
What happens during the evening?
At 6pm you and your friends will check in at All Saints Church where you will receive your instructions for the evening, including confirmation of your menu choices. You will then meet fellow guests for a drink and canapés at a welcome reception.
Your gastronomic journey around three of Marlow’s participating restaurants will start at 7pm when you will be guided along the High Street to your first restaurant. You will have already chosen your menu for the evening, so your starter will be waiting for you shortly after you arrive.
At 8pm you leave to take a short stroll with your guide and fellow diners to your second restaurant where your main course awaits.
You will leave at 9.30pm for your final restaurant where you will enjoy dessert and coffee.
All restaurants are close to Marlow High Street. 15 minutes is scheduled between each course to comfortably walk to your next restaurant with Marlow Tastes guides leading you and your fellow diners.
On arrival at each restaurant, your Rotary hosts will welcome you and show you to your table.
How many places will be available?
Marlow Tastes 2023 attracted over 230 guests and was sold out within three weeks. This year, we are delighted that eight local restaurants will be hosting Marlow Tastes 2024. Together they have the capacity to serve around 400 guests.
You can book for a group of friends – up to six in total. However, because of the nature of the event, bookings must be for an even number (that is a group of either 2, 4 or 6). Your group will sit together and eat at the same restaurants during the evening.
If you know of another group of friends who have booked, let us know when you book and we will do our best to allocate both groups to the same restaurants. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee you will be sat at the same table as the other group.
Which restaurants will I visit?
Our eight participating restaurants can be seen on the Restaurant Page. But you will not know which ones you will be visiting until you arrive. It will be a surprise!!!
Can I choose which restaurant I go to?
The surprise element of finding which restaurant you and your fellow diners will be visiting next is all a part of the fun!
How much will it cost? What is included in the price?
The cost of your reception drink and three-course meal, inclusive of coffee is just £65 per person. This also includes a small service charge.
And of course, you will have the opportunity when you book, and also during the evening, to make further donations. Marlow Tastes 2024 is after all a charity event!
Each restaurant will offer a specially prepared Marlow Tastes drinks list from which you can purchase and pay directly along with any other extras.
After the dessert course, we will present prizes to the winners of our charity raffle, tickets for which will be sold at the drink’s reception and during the first and second courses. In the run up to the event we will regularly update our website with our growing list of prestigious raffle prizes.
And of course surplus proceeds from Marlow Tastes 2024 will be donated to our two lead charities (Marlow United Charities and Parkinsons UK), as well as a number of other Rotary Selected Charities.
What food choices will I have?
Soon after the final booking date on Monday 25th March – or earlier if we are fully booked – we will email every guest three menu options for each of their three courses.
The first course will include at least one vegetarian option, and all second courses will have a meat, fish, and vegetarian options.
All menu options will have a detailed description and include allergen detail, so you can make choices that best meet your particular dietary needs.
What if I change my mind?
You will realise that an event like Marlow Tastes requires a lot of planning – that is why our final booking date is Monday 25th March, a month before the big day.
As soon as we close for bookings, we allocate guests and their booking group to three restaurants taking account as best we can of any advised mobility issues. Soon after, menu options for these restaurants are emailed to each guest. Once we have received back and collated menu choices, and dealt with queries, we finally advise each restaurant the total choices for each course. We then work with each restaurant to agree optimal seating arrangements and table layouts.
After booking, and before the final booking date, if you are unable to attend Marlow Tastes 2024, please let us know as soon as possible. We may be able to transfer your ticket if you can offer a replacement customer. If we cannot resell your ticket we will refund 90% of the ticket cost so that we can cover booking transaction fees.
Unfortunately, because we are having to commit final numbers to our participating restaurants, we cannot refund after the Final Booking Date.
If for any reason we cannot fulfil the event, we will refund your booking in full if you ask us. But we hope you won’t! This is of course, a charitable event where ALL surplus proceeds go to support good causes.
Please read our Terms & Conditions before booking.
How much of my payment will go to charity?
Our biggest cost of course is payment to our restaurants for your meal plus a small service charge. Additionally, we have overheads – mainly printing and booking fees.
After that, all the surplus proceeds from Marlow Tastes 2024 will go to charitable causes, along with the proceeds from our very attractive raffle and any voluntary charitable donations you have chosen to make.
Donations can be made when you book and at any time afterwards, even during the evening. If you are a UK tax payer, we would also welcome your confirmation of this so we can claim Gift Aid from the taxman!
We will publish the final amounts distributed shortly after the event has taken place. In 2023 we donated around £8,000 to charities from what was a significantly smaller event.
How can I contact you to ask for any further detail?
Just email us at info@marlowtastes.menu and one of our friendly fellow Rotarians will get back to you quickly.
Leave a telephone number if you prefer to have a chat.
How safe is Marlow Tastes?
Very safe we hope! But as with all public events that Marlow Thames Rotary Club organises, we ask you to think carefully about your safety.
Marlow Tastes is a culinary event that takes place at a reception venue, in participating restaurants, and outdoors in the streets of Marlow. We ask you to consider:
In selecting your menu choices, have you checked for possible allergens?
Are you comfortable meeting fellow diners in close proximity, especially indoor at the reception venue and at each restaurant you visit?
Are you able to safely walk for around 15 minutes between venues, possibly in inclement weather, and safely cross the road?
How will I know that my money is being properly looked after?
Marlow Thames Rotary Club is well used to managing complex charitable events. For example, we organise the annual Marlow Santa’s Fun Run which in 2023 generated around £70,000 for mainly local charitable causes.
All Marlow Tastes income and expenditure is managed through our Charity Bank Account which is regulated by the Charity Commission under Charity Account Number 1073652. Our Club Account Return is completed annually, and is lodged with the Charity Commissioner for public review.
Our club members and friends manage the event and receive no any income from this – or any other event – that the Club organises.
How do I book?
First, get a group of friends or family to make up your dining group of either 2, 4 or 6 (no odd numbers, please!). For each you will need their name, email address and phone number as well as any mobility restrictions they may have.
Book here to complete your group’s entry and acknowledge that you have agreed to our Terms and Conditions.
Finally follow the booking form through to the payment page where payment can be made in the usual online way.
Once payment has been received, we will automatically acknowledge receipt.
The final booking date is Monday 25th March, but we suggest that you book as soon as possible to secure your places. Last year we sold out within three weeks.
Soon after we close our bookings, we will forward three menu options for each of your three courses. But in doing so, without revealing the restaurants your will visit.
Each menu option will be fully described and clearly indicate allergens, so make sure you consider this before making your choices. We will require your choices to be emailed to us within two weeks of your receipt of menu options.
If you have any questions – or wish to add additional participants – simply email: info@marlowtastes.menu.If you find that we are fully booked – or are not sure at this time – why not put your name on our Waiting List? Again email: info@marlowtastes.menu.