Kevin Thornton (chef)
Encyclopedia
Kevin Thornton is an Irish
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 celebrity chef, radio and television personality and author, known for featuring on television series such as Guerrilla Gourmet
Guerrilla Gourmet
Guerrilla Gourmet is an Irish television series broadcast on RTÉ One. The series features professional chefs from various backgrounds, such as Dylan McGrath and Kevin Dundon, who each take on a new challenge...

 and Heat
Heat (TV series)
Heat is an Irish prime time reality television series broadcast on RTÉ One. The programme sees two professional chefs, Kevin Dundon and Kevin Thornton, attempt to train amateur participants to each compose a restaurant menu. Each chef has won one series each. Each series, of which there have so far...

 and characterised by a supposed dislike of chips and confirmed dislike of pizza. He has written the book Food for Life and had his recipes featured on the national radio station Newstalk. He has been praised by The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

 and featured in publications such as The Dubliner
The Dubliner (magazine)
-Publication format:The magazine had ten issues per year, and contents include opinion, reporting, political and social commentary and essays on Irish culture...

 and the Irish Independent
Irish Independent
The Irish Independent is Ireland's largest-selling daily newspaper that is published in both compact and broadsheet formats. It is the flagship publication of Independent News & Media.-History:...

.

Thornton's restaurant, Thornton's Restaurant
Thornton's Restaurant
Thornton's is a restaurant situated in the Fitzwilliam Hotel since 2002. The present address is St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin, County Dublin, Republic of Ireland, before this the location was on Portobello Road since 1989....

 in Dublin's city centre, has received two Michelin
Michelin Guide
The Michelin Guide is a series of annual guide books published by Michelin for over a dozen countries. The term normally refers to the Michelin Red Guide, the oldest and best-known European hotel and restaurant guide, which awards the Michelin stars...

 stars level with Patrick Guilbaud
Patrick Guilbaud
Patrick Guilbaud is a French professional chef residing in Ireland and the proprietor of that country's most award winning restaurant, the self-titled Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud...

's Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud
Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud
Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud is a restaurant in Dublin in Ireland. It is a quality restaurant that was awarded one Michelin star in the period 1989–1995 and two stars in the period 1996–present Egon Ronay Guide awarded the restaurant one star in the period 1983–1985 and 1987...

 in the ranks of Irish restaurants with the most Michelin stars. Thornton was the first Irish chef to achieve two Michelin stars. Thornton has received numerous awards and was named Food & Wine Magazine
Food & Wine Magazine
Food & Wine is a monthly magazine published by American Express Publishing. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine pairings and seasonal/holiday content and has been credited by The New York...

/'s Chef of the Year for Ireland in 2007 and been described as a "gastronomic
Gastronomy
Gastronomy is the art or science of food eating. Also, it can be defined as the study of food and culture, with a particular focus on gourmet cuisine...

 legend" in Ireland.Thornton's was named in the top 25 Restaurants of the World by Taste Magazine UK in 2009.

Style

Thornton views his profession as being similar to theatre and performance and was famously embroiled in a controversy in 2007 surrounding his alleged refusal to sell chips to his restaurant customers, sparking comparisons to the hot-headed British chef Gordon Ramsay
Gordon Ramsay
Gordon James Ramsay, OBE is a Scottish chef, television personality and restaurateur. He has been awarded 13 Michelin stars....

. One customer requested the food but, upon receiving it, he changed his mind and sent them back to the kitchen. Thornton then allegedly emerged from the kitchen with the chips and slammed them down on the man's table, with the remark: "They were cooked specially for you, so you eat them, you d***head". He later is alleged to have called them "w***ers" before removing them from his restaurant. Asked about the incident by broadcaster Joe Duffy
Joe Duffy
Joseph "Joe" Duffy is an Irish broadcaster employed by Raidió Teilifís Éireann . A Jacob's Award winner, he is the current presenter of Liveline, which is broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1, Monday - Fridays between 13:45 and 15:00.Duffy has a history as a student activist; he was President of the Union of...

 on his RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1 is the principal radio channel of Irish public-service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926...

 Liveline
LiveLine
Liveline is an Irish radio interview and phone-in chat show broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 each weekday afternoon between 13.45 and 15.00. The programme, which is currently presented by Joe Duffy and known for its slogan "Talk to Joe", seeks the public's opinion on various questions, normally one or more...

 programme, Thornton stressed that he had not so much been infuriated by the request of chips (he supposedly provides them for younger customers on a regular basis) but that he had been aggravated by the attitude of this particular customer. The incident has since seen Thornton become associated with a dislike of chips and, as recently as 2009, has been crafted as a pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...

 by the Irish media for any other outlet which does not serve the food. Thornton has also spoken out against pizza.

Early life

Thornton was born rurally in Cashel
Cashel, County Tipperary
Cashel is a town in South Tipperary in Ireland. Its population was 2936 at the 2006 census. The town gives its name to the ecclesiastical province of Cashel. Additionally, the cathedra of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly was originally in the town prior to the English Reformation....

, County Tipperary
County Tipperary
County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...

, as one of nine children born to Rita and Ned. Himself and his brothers and sisters were encouraged by their parents to cook, clean and sew from a young age. Thornton however pursued an interest in nature at this time. By spending his summer on a relative's farm he developed a fascination for cows and recalls the image of a bluebottle
Blue bottle fly
The blue bottle fly or bottlebee is a common blow-fly found in most areas of the world and is the type species for the genus Calliphora.-Description:...

 laying eggs which he later witnessed hatching as an influential and positive early memory. He later studied culinary arts at Regional Technical College Galway, now Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology
Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology
Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology is a third level institute of education and is based at five locations in the west of Ireland.-Galway Campus:...

.

Early career

Thornton's career has led to him working globally, in countries such as Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, France and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, working in an abbatoir and a vineyard
Vineyard
A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...

 as well as in the kitchen.

He opened Wine Opergne with his wife, Muriel, in Dublin's Rathmines
Rathmines
Rathmines is a suburb on the southside of Dublin, about 3 kilometres south of the city centre. It effectively begins at the south side of the Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to the south, Ranelagh to the east and Harold's Cross to the west.Rathmines has...

 district in 1990 and followed this by opening Thornton's Restaurant in Portobello 1995 and gained the first Star in 1996 and the second in 2001. Thorntons moved then in the Fitzwilliam Hotel on St Stephen's Green in 2002 and in 2006 he lost his second star.

Recent career

Thornton published the book Food for Life in 2005.

He has appeared on programmes such as The Afternoon Show
The Afternoon Show
The Afternoon Show was Raidió Teilifís Éireann's live flagship daytime show. It ran from 2004 until May 2010. The programme was dropped by RTÉ as part of its new season of television in 2010, to be replaced by two afternoon programmes 4 Daily presented by Maura Derrane and The Daily Show hosted by...

.

In February 2008, Thornton featured in the third episode of Guerrilla Gourmet, a television series which had six professional chefs attempt to set up their own temporary restauarnt in an unusual location. He chose to house his temporary restaurant at the Rock of Cashel
Rock of Cashel
The Rock of Cashel , also known as Cashel of the Kings and St. Patrick's Rock, is a historic site in Ireland's province of Munster, located at Cashel, South Tipperary.-History:...

 in County Tipperary
County Tipperary
County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...

, having grown up in the area as a child. He cooked rabbit
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...

, scallop
Scallop
A scallop is a marine bivalve mollusk of the family Pectinidae. Scallops are a cosmopolitan family, found in all of the world's oceans. Many scallops are highly prized as a food source...

s and sea urchin
Sea urchin
Sea urchins or urchins are small, spiny, globular animals which, with their close kin, such as sand dollars, constitute the class Echinoidea of the echinoderm phylum. They inhabit all oceans. Their shell, or "test", is round and spiny, typically from across. Common colors include black and dull...

s for twenty-eight people without the use of electricity.

In July 2008, the reality television series, Heat, was launched. Two series of the programme have been produced, with Thornton taking on rival chef Kevin Dundon
Kevin Dundon
Kevin Dundon is an award-winning Irish celebrity chef, television personality and author, known for featuring on television series such as Guerrilla Gourmet and Heat. He is the author of the book, Full On Irish: Contemporary Creative Cooking and his recipes have been featured in publications such...

 in each. He was Heat Champion in the second series but lost the first series to Dundon.

In April 2009, Thornton co-launched the Taste of Dublin festival with Dundon.

Awards

  • Thornton was named Food & Wine Magazines Chef of the Year for Ireland in 2007.
  • Two Michelin stars: 2001-2005
  • One Michelin star: 1996-2000 and 2006-present

Passions, personal and family life

Thornton is married to his wife named Muriel. He has two sons, Edward and Conor, and three grandchildren.

He is fond of photography and scuba diving.
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