The Steel Cauldron: Wizard-themed Sheffield cafe set to open second venue on Chapel Walk in city centre

The Steel Cauldron opened on Spooner Road in Broomhill in March 2020 and the magical venue has proved a big hit. As well as themed food and drinks, it runs animal sessions and crafting and magic workshops for youngsters, with cocktail nights and live music for older visitors.

Owners Rob and Nikki Downham plan to open a second venue on Chapel Walk next year, thanks to £50,000 from Sheffield Council’s ReNew Fund, which was set up to help revive struggling areas of the city centre, including Chapel Walk and Fargate. They are set to take over the old Andrews Café Tea Rooms, which closed earlier this year.

Rob said they hope to take possession of the building in late January or early February 2023 and aim to open on April 1, in time for the start of the Easter school holidays. The new venue will be slightly smaller than the existing one but will have many similarities, with Rob and Nikki hoping to transform the interior to look like an old wizard’s wand shop which has been partially reclaimed by nature. “The cafe will be within these magical surroundings, and we’re hoping it will look pretty cool,” said Rob.

Space constraints mean there will be no meet the animal sessions like those offered at the Spooner Road venue, nor will there be room for birthday parties, hen dos or similar events. But there will still be crafting workshops and there are plans for virtual reality and augmented reality, where visitors can walk through the cafe and see magical beings appear before their eyes.

As well as the wizard-themed snacks and drinks, there will a milkshake bar and a waffle bar for more casual diners. There will also be more items for sale, mostly magical-themed ones, and Rob and Nikki hope to showcase the work of local crafters.

Chapel Walk is one of the city’s oldest streets but its fortunes had been flagging in recent years, with a number of closures. However, there are early signs of a renaissance, with a number of new shops, including Juno Books, having recently opened, and the Bird’s Yard gift store still going strong after a decade. Rob said that before opening the first cafe in Broomhill, he and Nikki had considered Chapel Walk but were put off by the business rates and the scaffolding which was in place at the time. He believes its future now looks brighter.

“Hopefully Chapel Walk has already hit its rock bottom and will continue to improve,” he said. “I’m given confidence by the council’s plans for Events Central (a new cultural hub hosting events, shows, exhibitions, workshops and talks) and greenscaping Fargate, which will hopefully make it somewhere people want to come and hang out, creating a new future for Fargate. I hope Marks & Spencer will stay, as they’ve said they plan to, because it would be a real nail in the coffin for Fargate were they to leave.

“It’s the money from the ReNew Fund, which is part of £1.5m going into the area, which has made it possible. Hopefully that will lead to lots of businesses moving into the area and giving it a new vibrancy.”