Restart needed to reconnect Thunderbolt Display?
That only applies to using the Thunderbolt device under Windows 7. It's not the case when you're using OS X — you should be able to plug and unplug at will, without needing to restart.

It's not clear from that quote, but if you note, the index of Apple's Thunderbolt FAQ (from which this nugget came), items 21 through 27 relate only to using Thunderbolt devices under Boot Camp and Windows 7.