Noted chef Naomi Pomeroy, known for her stint on “Top Chef Masters,” tragically lost her life at 49 in a tubing mishap on the Willamette River near Corvallis, Oregon. The unfortunate event took place on July 13, 2024, and her death was confirmed by friends on the following Monday. However, her body was only retrieved on Wednesday, when canoeists found it in the river.
Pomeroy, along with her spouse Kyle Linden Webster and a friend, were tubing down the river when their tubes and a paddleboard, all connected together, got entangled with an underwater tree. Pomeroy, who wasn’t wearing a life jacket, was dragged underwater by a paddleboard leash and failed to emerge. Despite the use of sonar, underwater cameras, and drones by the Benton County Sheriff’s Office and the Corvallis Fire Department, the recovery of her body was delayed due to strong currents and waterborne debris.
Pomeroy was popularly known for her Portland, Oregon based restaurant, Beast, which significantly contributed to Portland’s culinary prominence. Beast was one of the early highlights of the city’s food culture, earning Pomeroy several honors, including a James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Pacific Northwest in 2014. Her innovative cooking style and commitment to using seasonal ingredients drew a loyal fan base.
Following her death, the culinary world and beyond expressed their sorrow. Congressman Earl Blumenauer, who had worked with Pomeroy to support independent restaurants during the COVID-19 outbreak, lauded her as “a fabulous chef and entrepreneur and an amazing human being whose impact extended far beyond Portland. She helped establish our leadership and reputation for food excellence.”
Many of her fellow chefs, including Tom Colicchio, Dominique Crenn, Andrew Zimmern, and Amanda Freitag, paid tribute to Pomeroy. “She was a force to be reckoned with. I was always inspired by her extreme creativity & commitment to her craft,” Freitag wrote. “She was always ahead of the curve and stood strong for everything she believed about the proper way to feed people good food & support her culinary community.”
Born in Corvallis in 1974, Pomeroy honed her culinary skills despite having no formal culinary education. She started her career by observing other chefs on television and created her first recipe at the tender age of four. In 2007, she opened Beast in Portland, a restaurant known for its communal dining experience and set menus. Pomeroy also co-founded Gotham Tavern and Gotham Coffee Shop with Michael Hebb.
In the weeks leading up to her tragic death, Pomeroy announced the launch of a new dining series called Garden Party. The series boasted a vegetarian-friendly menu focusing on seasonal ingredients from Pomeroy’s garden. Her excitement about cooking for guests again was evident in her final Instagram post, where she wrote, “See you all again soon! I can’t wait to cook with you again.”
Pomeroy’s influence extended beyond her restaurants. She appeared on “Top Chef Masters” in 2011 and received widespread recognition for her culinary skills. In 2014, Food & Wine proclaimed her one of the Best New Chefs, and she was also featured among Marie Claire’s 18 Most Powerful Women in Business.
Pomeroy’s substantial contributions to Portland’s food scene cannot be overstated. Beast, which shut down in 2020 due to the pandemic, was repurposed into Ripe Cooperative, a marketplace that sold meal boxes for home preparation until it closed in 2022. She recently opened a permanent location for her custard shop, Cornet Custard, and was working on a new restaurant in the former Woodsman Tavern space.
The loss of Pomeroy has deeply affected the community she served and inspired. Her legacy will continue to inspire countless chefs and food enthusiasts, and her innovative culinary contributions will always be remembered.