He has written a book, Food for Life, and had his recipes featured on the national radio station Newstalk.
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.
[6] 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".
[6] 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.
[9] He spent summers helping out on a relative's farm and worked in a local abattoir and both experiences formed the basis of early training for his career.
[8] 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 restaurant in an unusual location.
[5][11] He chose to house his temporary restaurant at the Rock of Cashel in County Tipperary, having grown up in the area as a child.