Candlemaker

Candlemaker A family-run wine bar & tapas house in the heart of Ripley. From the team behind Brewed Awakening.

We’re looking for a full-time Kitchen Porter to join the Candlemaker team.
17/09/2026

We’re looking for a full-time Kitchen Porter to join the Candlemaker team.

It’s been brilliant finally seeing our kitchen properly come to life over the last few days, we wanted to say a massive ...
15/09/2026

It’s been brilliant finally seeing our kitchen properly come to life over the last few days, we wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who has joined us for food so far.

From months of planning, building and testing to actually seeing plates leave the kitchen and land on your tables, it’s been quite a journey. There’s still plenty we’re learning along the way, but the response to the food so far has meant a lot to the whole team.

And if you haven’t joined us for tapas yet, we’d love to have you. Our evening kitchen is open Sunday - Thursday, 4pm - 8pm, with tables available to book at www.candlemakerbar.co.uk

Autumn is slowly creeping into Candlemaker… You can now find Pumpkin Spice Lattes on the café menu, alongside warming Ch...
14/09/2026

Autumn is slowly creeping into Candlemaker… You can now find Pumpkin Spice Lattes on the café menu, alongside warming Chai Tea (make it a Dirty Chai with a shot of espresso).

Just the beginning of a few seasonal changes making their way into Candlemaker over the coming weeks.

Last week we quietly opened the Candlemaker kitchen for our soft launch, and here’s some of the feedback from the first ...
13/09/2026

Last week we quietly opened the Candlemaker kitchen for our soft launch, and here’s some of the feedback from the first people to try our new food.

Was everything perfect? No. We had a few things to iron out, which is exactly why we wanted to do a soft launch in the first place. We listened, we learnt, we made changes and we’re ready!

Tomorrow, Monday 14th September, our tapas kitchen officially opens. From 4pm–8pm Sunday - Thursday, the team will be serving up the menu we’ve spent the last few months talking about, if you’ve been waiting and still haven’t booked your table, now’s your chance.

Bookings: https://www.candlemakerbar.co.uk/

Tapas launches at Candlemaker from Monday 14th September, with evening service Sunday–Thursday, 4PM–8:30PM.Bookings are ...
08/09/2026

Tapas launches at Candlemaker from Monday 14th September, with evening service Sunday–Thursday, 4PM–8:30PM.

Bookings are already coming in for our opening week, so if you’ve been thinking about joining us, now’s probably the time.

Book through our website or drop us a message and we’ll get you a table.

https://candlemakerbar.co.uk/

Meet the Team: Tish - Barista ☕️Next up in our Meet the Team series is Tish, one of the lovely faces behind our café. Li...
07/09/2026

Meet the Team: Tish - Barista ☕️

Next up in our Meet the Team series is Tish, one of the lovely faces behind our café. Like Chris, Tish joined us from Costa on Ripley High Street. We’d seen first-hand just how hard she worked and, when Candlemaker came along, we knew she was someone we wanted on our team.

There are actually two reasons it’s taken us this long to pin her down for a Meet the Team post…

1. She absolutely hates having her photo taken. 😂
2. Getting her to stand still for long enough is almost impossible.

Whether she’s making amazing coffees, clearing tables, cleaning, tidying or finding the next job that needs doing, Tish is constantly flying around Candlemaker - and so much of what she does happens quietly in the background.

We’re incredibly lucky to have her. Thank you for everything you do, Tish - even if we did have to chase you around with a camera. ❤️

A little taste of what’s coming next week…We’ve spent a long time talking about the Candlemaker kitchen. Next week, we f...
06/09/2026

A little taste of what’s coming next week…We’ve spent a long time talking about the Candlemaker kitchen. Next week, we finally get to start showing you what we’ve been working on.

Here are just a few of the dishes landing on our new tapas menu from Monday 14th September. Tables are already filling up for our first week, so if you’d like to be one of the first to try it, book through our website or drop us a message and we’ll get you sorted.

https://www.candlemakerbar.co.uk/

Since we released our new menus, there have been quite a few questions about how everything is going to work when our ne...
03/09/2026

Since we released our new menus, there have been quite a few questions about how everything is going to work when our new tapas service begins, so we thought we’d put the answers to some of the most common ones all in one place.

From when we’re serving, to how tapas works, where our ingredients come from, bringing the kids or the dog, and whether you can still simply pop in for a drink. Hopefully we’ve covered most of it below.

And remember, Candlemaker isn't becoming a restaurant. We're still your café, your bar, somewhere to meet for a glass of wine or a cocktail, we've just added another reason to stay a little longer. Have a flick through the graphics below and hopefully we’ve answered a few things for you.

If there’s anything we haven’t answered, drop your question in the comments below. No question is too small. We’ll be replying to them all!

And if you haven’t booked for tapas yet, you can book through our website or simply drop us a message.

Meet the Team: Reece - Head Chef.With our kitchen finally getting ready to open its doors, it’s about time we introduced...
03/09/2026

Meet the Team: Reece - Head Chef.

With our kitchen finally getting ready to open its doors, it’s about time we introduced you to our Head Chef, meet Reece!

Reece joins us from The Black Swan in Belper, which sadly closed its doors recently. We’ve enjoyed many a fantastic plate of tapas there ourselves over the years, so when the opportunity came to bring Reece into the Candlemaker team, we were very keen to have him.

Over the past few weeks he’s been busy behind the scenes getting our new kitchen up and running. From Monday 14th September, Reece will be heading up our new tapas offering, and we’re incredibly excited to see what he and the kitchen team do with it.

Welcome to Candlemaker, Reece. ❤️

We’re halfway through our Taste of Italy week at Candlemaker. Here’s a little look at how things went last night as we w...
02/09/2026

We’re halfway through our Taste of Italy week at Candlemaker. Here’s a little look at how things went last night as we welcomed the first of two sold-out evenings for six courses of Italian food and wine. And if you’re booked in for tonight… spoilers ahead.

We’ve also recently started our very own Candlemaker Wine Group. It’s where we’ll be sharing priority access to tickets for future tastings, behind-the-scenes looks at what we’re planning, new wines we’re excited about and plenty more. If you’d like to join, just drop us a DM and we’ll get you added.

And to everyone who joined us last night, thank you. What a lovely evening. ❤️

Address

7a Church Street, Ripley
Derby
DE53BU

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 10pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 10pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 10pm
Thursday 8:30am - 10pm
Friday 8:30am - 11pm
Saturday 8:30am - 11pm
Sunday 8:30am - 10pm

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