Miss Toya’s Creole House, a restaurant specializing in Creole and Cajun cuisine, will open next year at 923 Ellsworth Drive in downtown Silver Spring.
The restaurant is the latest concept by Jeffeary Miskiri, who runs the restaurant group Miskiri Hospitality Group along with his wife, Shatorya Miskiri.
Miskiri grew up in Takoma Park and attended Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, according to his bio. When he was 17, he worked at McDonald’s with his mother and her siblings, as well as at his family’s Caribbean restaurant.
Miskiri, 34, currently operates three food establishment in Washington, D.C. He told Bethesda Beat Monday night that opening a restaurant in his home turf was a “no brainer.”
Miskiri said he has relatives from Louisiana and other parts of the South, and they’ve passed down recipes for staple southern dishes, such as gumbo and jambalaya, through generations. He said he follows their recipes, but often puts his own twist on them.
“You might see Creole pork chop, you know, with a nice deglaze sauce,” he said, as an example of a dish he plans to serve at Miss Toya’s.
Miskiri said other items will include seafood gumbo, Rockefeller oysters and a couple of types of beignets. He said there will also be a brunch menu with items such as catfish and grits, and fried green tomatoes.
Miskiri said he expects Miss Toya’s to open in the first quarter of 2022.
Meanwhile, he’s gearing up to open another restaurant, Suga & Spice, in Hyattsville in a couple of weeks that will serve southern and Caribbean cuisine.
Asked about opening multiple restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic, Miskiri said, “Right now is a make-or-break time for those who really love the industry.”
“This is what they want to do with their life and career. … When I was 13 years old, this is what I wanted to do, but sometimes I have to pinch myself because I’m actually, like, growing and growing and growing,” he said.
Miskiri added that there’s always a “market for unique good quality food and service.”
Source of the Spring reported on Miss Toya’s impending arrival last week, noting that it will occupy the space where Eggspectation once stood.
Dan Schere can be reached at daniel.schere@moco360.media