Marco Pierre White (center) and Anthony Bourdain are bored by your questions. Michael Ruhlman is on the left.

“The Role of a Chef” panel which closed out day one of the StarChefs International Chefs Congress at the Park Avenue Armory featured iconoclasts Marco Pierre White and Anthony Bourdain (with writer Michael Ruhlman moderating) dishing about chefs they liked, and some they didn’t. As usual, Anthony Bourdain reserved most of his venom for food television personalities. When the conversation veered toward restaurants, both panel members essentially offered their thoughts on absentee chefs, who ostensibly oversee more restaurants than they can possibly physically cook in every day.

Marco Pierre White cited Pierre Gagnaire and Alain Passard as examples of chefs who are unwaveringly dedicated to the craft. “Passard is a man of nearly 60,” White said, “and he’s still at the stove.” When an audience member asked White about Michelin starred chefs between the ages of 25 and 30 he admired, White said: “There are none. I was 33, and I’m still the youngest.” All this is typical coming from a chef who earlier this year endorsed a line of soups bearing his name by way of saying “I'm not pretending I'm the creator of these soups. Anyone believing that is a fool.”