Emma’s Torch, on Smith Street, is much more than just a cafe — though some people don’t realize it.

“It’s actually really funny,” says Kira O’Brien. “There are people that come in for years, and walk past this mission statement [painted on the window], and don’t know that this is our mission. I’m like, great — that means you’re coming because you think the food is delicious, which is what I want”…

Three weeks into his culinary education, Ivan can say he’s worked alongside a James Beard Award-winning chef. He’s part of a class of trainees at Emma’s Torch, a nonprofit cafe that began in New York and recently opened a location in Silver Spring. It has taken on refugees and survivors of human trafficking from more than 75 countries to prepare them for a career in the restaurant industry…

Kerry Brodie, Founder and Executive Director, Emma's Torch, talks about the group's work to provide culinary training to refugees, survivors of human trafficking, and others, helping to set them up for successful careers in the culinary arts.

Kerry Brodie, Founder and Executive Director, Emma's Torch, talks about the group's work to provide culinary training to refugees, survivors of human trafficking, and others, helping to set them up for successful careers in the culinary arts.

This New York-based nonprofit that provides refugees with culinary training just opened their DC-area flagship in Silver Spring. Named for “The New Colossus” poet Emma Lazarus, Emma’s Torch offers brunch daily with classics cooked up by their students, including brown-butter pancakes, steak and eggs, and shakshuka.

Emma’s Torch cafe at 1200 East-West Highway teaches culinary skills and job preparation to help set refugees, asylees and human trafficking survivors up for success in the U.S. — and customers get to taste their work.

The Silver Spring cafe is now open to the public serving breakfast, brunch, lunch, pastries and coffee/tea. This new flagship location comes in addition to two sites in New York.

Emma’s Torch takes its name from Emma Lazarus, the poet whose words are on a plaque at the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…”