Andrea and Lara Messini, who run Le Gemme di Artemisia restaurant and cooking school in Lake Garda, Italy, flew in for a one day Italian masterclass to pass on their knowledge to a selection of chefs from Brend Hotels. The hotel chain's group development chef Dez Turland (pictured with Andrea and Lara Messini) was the winner of Tilda's Arborio rice competition last year, and he initiated the visit having been lucky enough to get the chance to see at first hand their school. More than 30 people attended the masterclass at Brend's Saunton Sands Hotel in North Devon where they learnt how to cook pasta in many different guises as well as how to make the perfect pesto and the secret of cooking risotto without having to continuously stir. Andrea Messini dispelled myths about cooking Italian dishes with his practical demonstrations and gave an insight into how he likes to cook in his restaurant, where he makes the most of local, seasonal produce and believes food is best cooked simply. Mark Lyddy, head of foodservice at Tilda, said: "Andrea brings Italian cooking to life with his practical demonstrations and his amazing knowledge of the subject. He makes cooking look easy but he also emphasises that it i achievable for people who want to learn from his expertise. It is great for Tilda to be involved in educating chefs in this way and to be associated with such an inspiring and well respected chef." Henry Sowden, head chef at Saunton Sands Hotel, said: "I've picked up lots of tips today. I'll be introducing the new method of cooking risotto, which will save us time in the kitchen. The finished product actually tastes better, down to using the fresh stock – bringing fresher product to the plate." Head chef Pete Woolacott from the Barnstaple Hotel added: "This has been my first educational with Brend Hotels and it's been really good. Great to get the background on ingredients and local sourcing – it brings it all to life. Cooking risotto the way Andrea showed us is much easier and means we can cook it to order in the kitchen alongside everything else."