Anissa Helou

The daughter of a Syrian father and a Lebanese mother, Anissa left her native Lebanon at the age of 21 to study interior design in London.

Following completion of the Sotheby’s Works of Art course, she started working for the auction house, becoming their representative for the Middle East. At the age of 24 she opened an antiques shop in Paris, and shortly after became a freelance art consultant based in London. Between 1978 and 1986, she lived in Kuwait acting as an advisor to members of the ruling family, returning to London in 1986.

Encouraged by a friend in the publishing world, and inspired by the Lebanese civil war, Anissa wrote her first cookbook, Lebanese Cuisine. In 1994, Lebanese Cuisine was published. It was short-listed for the prestigious Andre Simon Book Awards.

In 1999, Anissa changed her life by selling a number of collections at Christie’s. She also sold her Victorian house and bought a two-storey warehouse loft in Shoreditch, which she converted into a modern minimalist living and working space. It is here that she teaches in her state-of-the-art kitchen.

In 2013 Anissa was listed by Arabian Business as one of the 500 most powerful Arabs in the world,[9] and one of the 100 most powerful Arab women.

Her latest book, “Levant” was published in 2013 and was selected as one of Observer Food Monthly’s 20 food books of the year, Gourmet Travellers best books of 2013, 14 Best Cookbooks Of 2013 by BuzzFeed and one of Marie-Claire Digby’s top ten food books of the year