Thornton's was a restaurant that was housed, in the period 2002–2016, in the Fitzwilliam Hotel, St. Stephen's Green,

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It was previously located on

Portobello Road Portobello Road is a street in the Notting Hill district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London. It runs almost the length of Notting Hill from south to north, roughly parallel with Ladbroke Grove. On Saturdays it is ...

since 1989. It became a

fine dining restaurant Fine may refer to: Characters * Sylvia Fine (''The Nanny''), Fran's mother on ''The Nanny'' * Officer Fine, a character in ''Tales from the Crypt'', played by Vincent Spano Legal terms * Fine (penalty), money to be paid as punishment for an off ...

, that held a one-star Michelin rating in the periods 1996-2000 and 2006–2015. In the period 2001-2005 it held a two-star rating. The restaurant closed on 29 October 2016. The space is now occupied by Glovers Alley. Head chef Kevin Thornton was the first Irish chef to achieve two Michelin stars. Patrick Guilbaud received his second star first but was born in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Origin

Thornton's Restaurant was opened in the Fitzwilliam Hotel on St Stephen's Green in 2002.

Controversy

Thornton's Restaurant was embroiled in a controversy in 2007 surrounding Thornton's alleged refusal to sell chips to his restaurant customers, sparking comparisons to

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

chef Gordon Ramsay. A 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 dickhead”. He later is alleged to have called them "wankers" before removing them from his restaurant. Asked about the incident by broadcaster

Joe Duffy Joseph Duffy (born 27 January 1956) is an Irish broadcaster employed by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). One of RTÉ's highest-earning stars, he is the current presenter of ''Liveline'', an interview and phone-in chat show broadcast on R ...

on his

RTÉ Radio 1 RTÉ Radio 1 ( ga, RTÉ Raidió 1) is an Irish national radio station owned and operated by RTÉ and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926. The total budget for th ...

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 ...

'' 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 by the Irish media for any other outlet which does not serve the food. Thornton has also spoken out against serving food such as pizza in his restaurant.

Awards

Thornton was named ''Food & Wine Magazines Chef of the Year for Ireland in 2007."HEAT - Kevin Dundon and Kevin Thornton"
RTÉ. Accessed 25 April 2009. His restaurant had two Michelin stars but it lost one of them; one newspaper at the time portrayed a cartoon of Thornton setting the ''

Michelin Guide The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of ...

'' alight.

Trivia

* Kevin Thornton bought the former Michelin starred restaurant Peacock Alley in 2002 after the Fitzwilliam Hotel had cancelled the lease with Conrad Gallagher.

References

{{Michelin stars in Ireland Michelin Guide starred restaurants in Ireland Restaurants in Dublin (city) St Stephen's Green