Emma’s Torch empowers refugees to pursue the American dream through culinary training.
In 2016, while Kerry Brodie was living in Washington D.C. and working in public policy, she discovered a problem: as a country, we don’t do enough when it comes to getting food to poor communities. Her solution? Train refugees, survivors of human trafficking, or those who’ve obtained political asylum, to work in a kitchen so that they may seek employment in the culinary industry.
Brodie then built the foundation of the nonprofit that would become Emma’s Torch, a restaurant that started as a pop-up concept in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Brodie went to culinary school, got a 501(c)3 designation, and built a strong community around the project, and in Spring of 2018 debuted her full-fledged restaurant in Carroll Gardens, just a few blocks from the original pop-up. Emma’s Torch serves dinner Tuesday through Saturday, and brunch on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. It is fully staffed by refugees, asylees, and survivors of human trafficking that hail from a number of countries.
Emma’s Torch is named after Emma Lazarus, the American poet and writer whose iconic words, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” are engraved on the Statue of Liberty. “Welcoming a stranger isn’t a new concept,” says Brodie. “It’s always something we’ve aspired towards, and we’re doing our part to make the American experience a little truer.” While Emma’s Torch is a full-service restaurant, it’s also a haven for refugees to comfortably transition into life in America by giving them free culinary training, ESL classes, interview preparation, and a competitive paycheck. All candidates must be authorized to work in the United States, but are not required to have any previous cooking experience.
Emma’s Torch partners with local refugee agencies and homeless shelters who refer clients to the culinary program. Each paid apprenticeship program lasts eight weeks, and students receive nearly 400 hours of culinary training to prepare them to find a job in the culinary industry. “We’re really looking for passion for food and excitement around food in these students,” says Brodie. “Everything else can be taught.”
From Day One to Day 61
The eight-week program is split into one month of kitchen preparation and learning the skills to get comfortable in the kitchen, followed by a month of getting on the line and learning different cooking methods, as well as preparing different dishes on the menu for restaurant customers. Students are given a knife set, professional chef shoes, and a path for success. Emma’s Torch’s culinary director, Chef Alexander Harris, is responsible for educating trainees and running the kitchen. “He is an incredible educator,” says Brodie. Most recently at Blue Smoke, Harris has been a chef for over 15 years.
“Everything our students create ends up on the menu, because we’re all about education,” says Brodie. The menu also sometimes reflects the regions from where trainees hail. Adwa Alsubaie, who came to the U.S. at 18 as an asylee from Saudi Arabia, had her shakshuka featured on the restaurant’s summer menu.
On the last day of their eight-week curriculum, the students have a celebration centered around the recipes and ideas that they want to cook, with each student getting a course to prepare and present to diners. Once students have graduated, the focus immediately turns to job placement. Brodie and her team have a wide network of restaurants and chefs that want to hire graduates, from the New York City restaurant community as well as the Emma’s Torch Culinary Council, a group of restaurateurs, chefs, and HR people. Last year, 100 percent of graduates seeking full-time careers were placed in culinary jobs, with some landing positions at top restaurants in NYC.
Training the Tired, Poor, and Huddled Masses Takes a Village
To bring students into the program, Brodie and her team have partnered with a variety of groups and refugee resettlement agencies around the world. Partner organizations include Sanctuary for Families; HIAS; Church World Service, RiF, International Rescue Committee; and Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New York.
In addition to these partnerships, Emma’s Torch receives support in the form of food donations and grants from a variety of groups such as Roland Foods, Whole Foods Market, Sir Kensington’s, Ben & Jerry’s Foundation, Bender Foundation, The Good People Fund, The Starbucks Foundation, Rachael Ray Foundation, ALLINBKLYN, Hyde and Watson Foundation, and the Brooklyn Community Foundation’s Immigrants’ Rights Fund initiative. Emma’s Torch also receives in-kind support from several New York organizations, including Sfoglini Pasta, Toufayan, Runamok Maple, Gotham Greens, and Korin Knives, among many others.
The Future is Nationwide
If the charitable support from the Brooklyn community hasn’t been enough to prove that Brodie’s concept has been a complete success, Emma’s Torch has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from diners at the restaurant, says Brodie.
“It’s been so positive! Thrillist named us one of the best places to eat in New York, and the community in Carroll Gardens has been so supportive of our mission and our food,” she says. “The food we serve is up to the standards of the community, and our students are doing so well.”
As the next cohort of students enters Emma’s Torch to begin their culinary training and embark towards a successful life in America, the future is bright and getting brighter. With plans to expand to other cities, Brodie and her team hope to open similar restaurants tied with an education program across the U.S., and give refugees, asylees, and survivors of human trafficking in other regions of the U.S. a chance to pursue the American dream.
“We have our mission statement printed on the menu and in the restaurant, but plenty of people walk in and don’t know our mission or that their meal is supporting refugees,” says Brodie. “My hope is you come in for the delicious avocado toast, but you use your buying power to change lives.”
More Companies Making a Difference
Chickapea Supports Change in Developing Countries
Chickapea, a recently-certified B Corp., has partnered with WE Charity to support its efforts to achieve sustainable change in developing countries around the world. As part of the effort, Chickapea donates three cents from the sale of every Chickapea product to WE Villages Food Pillar of Impact supporting a school nutrition program. This program provides nutritious meals as well as education on proper nutrition to fuel growing minds and contribute to thriving communities. It only costs $25 to feed a student a healthy lunch for an entire year, and Chickapea’s goal is to feed as many classrooms as possible.
Nature Nate’s Honey Supports Honey Bees
Nature Nate’s Honey Co., producer of 100 percent pure, raw, and unfiltered honey, has launched a national consumer awareness program titled “Long Live the Bees.” The educational initiative strives to bring greater awareness to the many issues affecting honey bee health and drive consumer action. Nature Nate’s has launched a formal conservation program with four leading universities – Cornell University, University of Georgia, Texas A&M University, and University of Texas, Dallas to support honey bee health research.
Fischer & Wieser Teams with Junior Leagues International
Fischer & Wieser Specialty Foods is sponsoring the Association of Junior Leagues International and the group’s multi-city Kids in the Kitchen program which facilitates improved nutrition and family cooking. Along with an annual donation to the AJL, Fischer & Wieser has pledged to assist with an equally broad array of contributions – from products and recipes for cooking classes, to cooking demonstrations and lessons, or assistance with gift baskets and other fundraising efforts. Kids in the Kitchen travels from city to city, taking cues from the specific needs of the community and provides different food-inspired services. In poorer areas, giving kids hands-on cooking instruction and sending them home with enough groceries to feed their families is the logical focus. When the challenges are less severe, the emphasis becomes teaching young people about better nutritional choices to reverse national trends towards obesity.
Sara Kay is content and education specialist for the Specialty Food Association.
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