Julia Khan Anselmo: Edible Tales
Through food, design and quiet theatre, Julia khan anselmo conjures a layered world. her work, as the founder of the international culinary studio feisty feast, reflects a rich heritage, innate generosity, and a cultivated eye for beauty. today, we are welcomed into the light-filled 17th-century amsterdam home she has restored with her partner.
Photography Sophia van den Hoek
Photography Sophia van den Hoek
“‘It is about creating an experience, a performance. The table is the stage. The guests arrive, the kitchen hums, and I am directing how it all flows.’”
As we step through the neo-Rococo embellished double doors into the home of Julia Khan Anselmo, with her smooth fox terrier, Mimi, playfully at her heels, we enter another world. Just off a bustling street in the heart of Amsterdam, her home offers a storied sanctuary. A place where modern splendour meets old-world elegance and where countless dinners have unfolded beneath her thoughtful eye.
For Julia, hosting Feisty Feasts, intimate gatherings celebrating phenomenal women or brand-focused evenings, is about more than food. “It is about creating an experience, a performance. The table is the stage. The guests arrive, the kitchen hums, and I am directing how it all flows.” Meals in her home feel like a blend of life and theatre. She moves barefoot through the kitchen, composing each colorful plate into a bite-sized story.
That spirit infuses her style. Whether wearing a silhouette from her brand Laasso or a vintage Laura Ashley dress once worn by her mother, each choice feels intentional. Today she wears a hand-pleated, floral-printed look by Paris-based designer Julia Heuer. “It feels incredibly alive,” she says. “Her dresses bounce when you walk. Full of movement, volume, lightness, fun.” There is a similar joyful clarity to her food. Though it may look spontaneous, her approach is precise and considered. “Simplicity is one of the hardest things to do,” she reflects. “I like the challenge of bringing out the best in each ingredient.”
Originally from Canada, Julia has settled into Amsterdam’s rhythm. She enjoys quiet mornings with tea before heading to the market. She shops across Javastraat, the Saturday Noordermarkt, and stalls tucked along Nieuwmarkt. In season, she forages lilacs for cream, elderflower for dressing, wild garlic for fresh cooking. “It is all there if you know where to look”, she explains and adds with delight, “I just discovered woodruff. Kind of vanilla, kind of herbal. A singular flavor, for sure.”
Raised between those energies, a father who showed love through food and a mother who moved with intention, Julia grew up on salted cod, Portuguese stews, local vegetables, and slow, thoughtful meals. Sundays meant steak from Alberta cattle, thanks to her mother’s second husband, a rancher with ties to Brazil. “We ate well. Food was how we were introduced to culture,” she says of herself and her sister Alexis. “And we learned early to follow what fuels us.”
With Feisty Feast founded in 2013, Julia was already tapping into a quiet renaissance in how we gather, eat, and create. “It is this cross-pollination,” she shares, “between art, design, fashion, identity, culture, and food. That line has really blurred, in a good way.” Cooking and hosting came naturally, but so did her instinct for composition. “I loved the art world, and I still do,” she says. “Studying art history taught me to look more closely. To ask why something was created, and what shaped the person behind it.”
Now, every corner of her home reflects that hunger for beauty and meaning. Above the dining table hangs a surrealist painting by Irish artist Christopher Mahon, a long-time family friend. “The frame was made in Cairo, where he lives now. When he moved, the painting stayed. So we are watching it for him.” Above the door, tucked into an alcove added during the renovation, sits a sculptural ceramic object by artist May Liok. “I love anything that feels made by hand, and I needed something with presence.” The octagonal marble table, found by Jasper on Marktplaats in Belgium, anchors the space. “We call it the altar,” she laughs. “It came from an old farmhouse.” The surface gleams with select blooms, pressed glassware and an artful scatter of plates. Tablescapes are part of Julia’s language. “I recently did a dinner for the new Rosewood Hotel to celebrate garden designer Piet Oudolf,” she recalls. Held in an art space surrounded by John Chamberlain sculptures, the theme was growth and renewal. Rose bushes tangled across the table. Bread tins were reshaped into abstract forms echoing Chamberlain’s metalwork.
That instinct for beauty and story extends to the home itself; a grand 17th-century house tucked just off Peperstraat, which translates fittingly to Pepper Street. “I just love that,” she laughs. “The building once belonged to wealthy spice merchants.” A place to welcome others. Like Feisty Feast, it is never just about the table, but about what it allows: presence, intimacy, and connection.
