Illinois Ag News Headlines Copper Chef Competition at WIU Illinois Ag Connection - 02/05/2010 Former newspaper columnist and critic Harriet Van Horne once said "Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all." Two executive chefs at Western Illinois University will enter into the eighth annual Copper Chef competition with great abandon Feb. 23 as they battle to win the coveted 2010 Copper Chef title. The event will be held from 5:15-6:45 p.m. at the Thompson Hall West Dining Center on the WIU-Macomb campus. The culinary competition is Campus Dining Service's local take off on the Food Network's Iron Chef, complete with "play-by-play" coverage, kitchen-themed decor, over-the-top judges and scrumptious food. This year's competitors are Lincoln-Washington-Grote halls Executive Chef Nate Rebman and Bayliss-Henninger halls Executive Chef Laurence Shiner. The chefs will have one hour to prepare three dishes from three secret ingredients. Throughout the show host Joe Perone, North Quad manager, will interact with the chefs and the audience and conduct trivia games with prizes for the audience. A panel of celebrity judges will taste each dish prepared by Chef Nate and Chef Laurence, scoring them on taste, creativity and presentation. The winning chef will be presented a copper tray. The Copper Chef competition, which is part of a yearlong series of events hosted by Sodexo Campus Services, is open free to the University and Macomb communities. Copyright © 2010 - USAgNet.com. All Rights Reserved.