MANILA, Philippines?On Sept. 17-19, the Chef Wars National Competition will be presented at the grand finals of ?Food Showdown 2008? at the World Trade Center.

Winners from different regions in the professional and student categories will show off their winning skills in ?The Battle of the Experts.?

There will be an on-site cooking competitions for Chef Wars Classical Continental for European Cuisine and the Chef Wars Classical Kulinarya, in which teams of three will cook five dishes for two persons.

Culinary competitions

Other culinary competitions up for grabs during the three-day event include the Bar Challenge for bartenders; Compleat Chefs, which challenges participants to take their creativity a notch higher in fine dining; the Cold Buffet-Philippine Summer Picnic Basket, and the ?Kusina Rapido? challenge. Twenty-six schools and 16 hotels and restaurants from all over the country are scheduled to take part in the festivities.

For the Chef Wars, finalists from the Visayas include Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino, The Tinderbox, the Philippine School of Culinary Arts and the International Culinary Arts Academy of Cebu. Mindanao will be represented by The VIP Hotel, Hotel Koresco, Liceo de Cagayan University and Iligan City?s Saint Michael?s College.

The Food Showdown will also serve as a venue for learning the other aspects of cooking. Seminars lined up include:

1. Travels With A Food Writer, with Michaela Fenix and Felice Sta. Maria
2. Image Makeover
3. Food Photography and Styling with photographer Marc Flor and his wife, Linda
4. Wine Appreciation, with Tita Trillo, Cecile Mauricio and Kathy Santos

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Join The Mandy Navasero One-Day Macro Photography, Rubber Stamping and Greeting-Card Making at Sonya?s Garden on Sept. 21. E-mail mandynavasero@yahoo.com, or call 899-1767.