This much I know: Kevin Thornton

NATURE is my God.

I am a spiritual person although I don’t follow any specific religion. The most important thing I’ve learnt so far is simply to live in the now.

My interest in cooking began during the summer months at around age 15. I was working in the gardens of the Cashel Palace and became fascinated by the transformation of the produce from the garden to the plate. I think that sparked it for me.

I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else other than Ireland. I love to travel and experience different cultures and find it very inspirational for my work, but there’s something about a sense of being among your own tribe that is too important to me to be away from for any great length of time.

My greatest pleasure in life is without a doubt my family — my wife and business partner Muriel, sons Conor and Edward and grandchildren Isaac, Esmee and Oscar.

I think vegetarians visiting restaurants sometimes get a raw deal. Not at Thornton’s though! Muriel and Conor were non-meat eaters for 12 years.

My earliest memory of cooking is of helping my mum to cook dumplings to go with Irish Stew at home.

I’ve used a camera as a visual diary for years — since my late teens. When I was about 10 my dad had a great pinhole camera and I was only allowed to look at it. That’s when my interest in photography began.

Taste of Dublin is a wonderful event because it allows the professionals in the industry, particularly the chefs, to interact with people. The atmosphere is always terrific and the setting is a hidden gem, in Dublin’s Iveagh Gardens. It kind of marks the beginning of summer (once it doesn’t rain of course!).

The personality trait that I most admire in others has to be honesty.

I still return to Tipperary fairly regularly. My mum and two of my brothers and one sister live in Cashel and Clonmel. My favourite spot is and always has been the Rock — as kids the whole site was our playground. When I spend time at the Rock, I really feel I’m at home.

My advice for aspiring chefs is to learn from a reputable house as it’s hard to undo bad habits. The job requires dedication and passion. But being a chef is a great profession that allows you to travel and to express yourself creatively.

If I could cook for anyone, living or dead, it would be Nelson Mandela as it would be an honour to cook for such an inspiring man.

I enjoy making the television programmes I’m involved with as the process of going from raw to finished product is interesting — and it’s always great to work as part of a team towards a common goal.

If I wasn’t a chef, I think I would be a photographer as it is my second great work passion.

Whatever free time I have is spent with family and friends, or travelling to experience a different culture.

Becoming a father changed me greatly. It made me grow up and realise what life is really about.

One of my pet hates is touching toilet doors with my bare hands.!!

I think it’s necessary for chefs to understand what they are doing and why they are doing it. If they do so then they don’t need to be temperamental.

If I won the Lotto, I would use the money to provide for my family’s future.

It might be considered healthy to think about death, but I believe it is healthier to think about life.

My greatest ambition, in a culinary sense, is to continue at what I have done successfully with Thornton’s for the past 21 years.

Kevin Thornton is just one of many taking part in the ‘Taste of Dublin’ festival in Iveagh Gardens from June 9-12.