Emma's Torch Cafe

Brooklyn Refugee-Run Kitchen Emma’s Torch Reopens | Eater NY

"Reopened for the first time since the pandemic shutdown in March, the Carroll Gardens restaurant Emma’s Torch doubles as a training program for refugees, and I found co‑founder Kerry Brodie determined to return to its central mission of providing meaningful employment and culinary training. Since launching in 2016, the organization has offered a free, two‑part, 10‑week training program for refugees, asylees, and survivors of human trafficking, and more than 100 students have gone on to careers in the hospitality industry. When indoor dining shut down in March the opportunities for students largely disappeared, so the school shifted to online cooking classes for more than 40 furloughed or unemployed alums and helped graduates apply for unemployment and network for jobs. Because Emma’s Torch is a nonprofit and donors continued to fund it, it remained relatively stable and was able to reopen once NYC allowed indoor dining at 25 percent, prioritizing getting jobs back to refugee staffers and students. The school is currently enrolling new cohorts (three students in November, four starting in December, and about 10 waiting to be enrolled) and is focusing on COVID‑era kitchen skills like new food‑safety and public‑health rules, extra cleanliness, and social distancing; culinary director Alex Harris procured three six‑foot metallic tables to give students more space, individual attention, and better visibility of each student’s prep. With indoor dining kept closed, Emma’s Torch is placing a few tables outside (without outdoor heating because of the historic building) and emphasizing training over service: students are paid $15 per hour and limited guests can sample a menu created by the current cohort that includes potato and cucumber salads, kabbouleh, and a black‑eyed‑pea fritter sandwich. To expand work opportunities amid a bleak hospitality job market, Emma’s Torch has partnered with Brooklyn nonprofit Rethink to produce 600 weekly meals for the Nutrition Kitchen food pantry, is launching an entrepreneur series on pop‑ups, and is preparing gift bags to sell, and Brodie—while noting the new federal refugee cap—remains confident in NYC’s large refugee population and the resilience of the students." - Megan McGibney