Jonathan Ward’s Service Lights

“I’m not really a waiter” may sound hackneyed in sunny Los Angeles, but in chilly London a similar utterance is enough to set a career alight. At least it was for Jonathan Ward, a candlemaker who met his first retail client, a Whole Foods Market’s U.K. beauty buyer, while waiting tables in a local restaurant. “It was a twist of fate,” recalls Ward, whose line bowed in Whole Foods and Fresh and Wild stores last July. Ward’s collection of 10 candles, about $40 each, are odiferous odes to memories from his past. Cassis Noir, with notes of red currant, blackberry and jasmine, recalls berry-picking expeditions, while Child, containing milk, vanilla, nutmeg and pear, was inspired by a baby’s christening ceremony.