What the Tongue Remembers: Benin Meets the South

For one evening in Durham, the table becomes a place of memory, migration, and return.

As the opening of What the Tongue Remembers—a week-long culinary and cultural exchange—Chef Adé Carrena welcomes Michelin-starred Chef Georgiana VIOU for a collaborative dinner that moves between West Africa, Southern France, and the American South. Chef VIOU, the first African woman to earn a Michelin star, brings a culinary style shaped by movement, heritage, and a deeply personal understanding of flavor.

Hosted at Nanas, this intimate gathering invites you into a multi-course menu with wine pairings crafted with care, where ingredients carry story, and each course opens another doorway into how cultures meet, shift, and continue. It’s a beautiful way to start the week, in community, around the table.

Seating is intentionally limited.