A nonprofit cafe and culinary training facility that got its start in New York is plotting its move to Montgomery County.

Emma’s Torch, which previously had a nearby location in D.C.’s Brookland neighborhood for two years, will reopen at Silver Spring’s 1200 East-West Highway on June 12, according to a news release from the business. At the new 4,500-square-foot digs, the facility’s team — helmed by founder Kerry Brodie — aims to provide culinary training for more than 185 international refugees, asylum-seekers and human-trafficking survivors this year — while simultaneously operating a full-service cafe for the general public.

“The Montgomery County location ... allows Emma’’s Torch to reach its prospective students where they are,” reads the release.

Recorded on location at Emma's Torch — a restaurant and culinary training center for refugees in Brooklyn, NY with locations in the Washington, DC metropolitan area — Suzanne sits down with staff members Kira O'Brien and Alexander Harris and alumnus Giorgi Tabukashvili to explore what home, belonging, and hospitality mean when displacement is part of the story.

Now in its tenth year, Emma's Torch runs an 11-week, fully paid culinary training program for refugees, asylees, and other newcomers. Giorgi shares how the program helped him find community when he was new to the U.S after fleeing his home country of Georgia, and how it propelled him in his career as a restaurant manager. Kira, a lifelong New Yorker, shares how living in New York City on 9/11 inspired her to advocate for refugee communities, and “Chef Alex,” a self-described “Jersey Boy” who leads the Emma’s Torch culinary training program in New York, offers a window into how the organization prepares its students to thrive in the restaurant business.

Emma’s Torch, a nonprofit social enterprise providing culinary training for refugees, asylees and survivors of human trafficking, announced Tuesday it will open a café and training center on June 12 in Silver Spring.

Located at 1200 East-West Highway, the 4,500-square-foot eatery will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the morning of June 11 with expected attendance from local officials and community members, according to a release. 

The new café location enables Emma’s Torch to expand the training space and dining that attracted customers to its Brookland location in Northeast Washington, D.C., which closed last year to prepare for the move to Montgomery County. 

SILVER SPRING, MD — The nonprofit Emma's Torch will be opening its new location this month in Silver Spring, complete with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Located at 1200 East-West Highway, the new 4,500-square-foot facility will house both a cafe and a culinary training center.

Organizers will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 11 at 10 a.m., with doors opening to the public on June 12.

The base will serve as the nonprofit's new regional flagship after the decision was made in 2025 to shutter the former Brookland location.

Emma’s Torch, the nonprofit café and culinary training program that helps refugees, asylees, and survivors of human trafficking build careers in the food industry, will officially open its new Silver Spring location on June 12. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for June 11 at 10 am at the new café and training center at 1200 East-West Highway.

The new 4,500-square-foot facility serves as Emma’s Torch’s regional flagship and is more than four times the size of its former DC location, which closed last year ahead of the move. The expanded space will allow the organization to train more than 185 students annually while providing seating for about 60 guests, private event space, and a larger catering operation. Founded in 2016 by CNN Hero Kerry Brodie, Emma’s Torch has enrolled more than 700 students from over 75 countries and has helped generate more than $34 million in increased wages for participants.

Emma’s Torch, the nonprofit café and culinary training program that helps refugees, asylees, and survivors of human trafficking build careers in the food industry, will officially open its new Silver Spring location on June 12. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for June 11 at 10 am at the new café and training center at 1200 East-West Highway.

Kira O’Brien is the Chief Impact Officer at Emma’s Torch, where she leads the organization’s culinary training program and social ventures. She joins the show to discuss the mission of Emma’s Torch, the success stories of her students, and how everyone can support immigrants in this current political climate. In this conversation we explore the data and demographics behind Emma’s Torch, the skills she teaches her students to thrive in some of the world’s best kitchens, and building a community through food in the New York City restaurant industry.

Emma’s Torch, a Brooklyn-based nonprofit that provides refugees with culinary training and career support, will open a café and training center in downtown Silver Spring on June 12, according to a Tuesday press release from the upcoming restaurant.

Its new location is at 1200 East West Highway on the ground floor of the 1200 East West apartment building. It is the former home of NaiNai’s Noodle and Dumpling Bar.

Founder Kerry Brodie told Bethesda Today on Tuesday that she was thrilled about the opening and said an upcoming ribbon cutting ceremony was a “huge milestone.”