I Love Togo

Every Thursday through Sunday evening in Waterville, Maine, an ensemble of the senses takes place inside an old flour mill just off Main Street. Inside, traditional West African clay masks adorn brown painted walls, light refracts through colored glass onto wooden beams, and the low thrum of african drumming songs sustain Jordan Messian Bennison as he prepares ingredients for “Gusi Dessi” and African gumbo. I Love Togo celebrates Bennison, a famed master of West African drumming and the singular chef of Me Lon Togo. The restaurant opened in Waterville in 2018, and serves to bring traditional West African cuisine and culture to the community.

A film by Marin Coletta and Alex Ozols