Portland chef Naomi Pomeroy’s body found after fatal tubing accident

Naomi Pomeroy, a celebrated Portland chef and restaurateur, has died at the age of 49.

On July 15, Pomeroy’s family confirmed to Portland Monthly that she drowned in a tubing accident.

The Benton County Sheriff’s Office said in a release on July 16 that Pomeroy drowned in the Willamette River in Oregon on July 13. Its investigation determined three adults — Pomeroy, her husband Kyle Linden Webster and a friend — became entangled on an “exposed snag in the water” while on tubes and a paddle board that were connected. Pomeroy was pulled underwater and couldn’t free herself because of the “paddleboard leash,” according to officials.

Corvallis Fire Department members recovered Webster and the friend on the shore, but it was unable to recover Pomeroy, per the release. The sheriff’s office said it then began searching for Pomeroy, both by land and water.

“This Office is dedicated to locating Naomi and bringing her home to her family and loved ones,” said Sheriff Van Arsdall. “I want to thank all involved in the search and recovery mission during this difficult time.”

The sheriff’s office later announced that on the morning of July 17 at about 10:00 a.m., Pomeroy’s body was found on the Willamette River about a half mile upstream of Hyak Park between the towns of Corvallis and Albany.

The office said people who were canoeing on the river spotted a body and called 911. Marine deputies who arrived shortly after located a woman’s body on a shallow section of bedrock near the middle of the river with about one to two feet of water.

The woman was later identified as Pomeroy and released to a funeral home. Her family was notified.

Pomeroy was a self-taught cook who rose to prominence when she opened her acclaimed Portland restaurant Beast in 2007 with business partner Micah Camden and sous chef Mika Paredes.

After Beast won The Oregonian’s Restaurant of the Year in 2008, Pomeroy was named one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs in 2009. Then, in 2013, she and her husband Webster opened Portland cocktail bar Expatriate. In 2014, she won a James Beard award for her work: Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific, following four previous nominations.

In 2018, she wrote an essay for Eater about her experiences as a woman in the restaurant industry, reflecting on toxic kitchen culture in the wake of #MeToo.

“That sexual harassment is pervasive in our industry has everything to do with all of us agreeing, back then, that bad behavior was normal. We agreed it is normal because ‘everyone has to let off steam somehow.’ We were taught in the kitchen fray to never take anything said on the line personally,” she wrote.

“But #MeToo ripped that apart. It showed us what we put up with for so long as normal is deeply, unequivocally wrong. We sort of knew it, but we were too busy emulating and living it.”

After Beast closed in 2020, the space was converted into a market and bistro called Ripe Cooperative, which closed in 2022.

Pomeroy appeared on “Iron Chef” as well as “Top Chef Masters,” competing in the latter’s third season. She also served as a guest judge on “Top Chef” in Seasons 10, 15 and 18. The show and its network, Bravo, released a statement on Pomeroy’s death, writing on X:

“The Bravo and Top Chef family send our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Chef Naomi Pomeroy. Naomi was a powerhouse chef who made an indelible mark on the culinary industry.”

This past May, Pomeroy opened ice cream shop Cornet Custard with Paredes and was planning to open a French restaurant in the space next door.

On social media, fellow chefs, including Tom Colicchio, Dominique Crenn, Andrew Zimmern and Amanda Freitag, posted tributes to Pomeroy.

“She was a force to be reckoned with. I was always inspired by her extreme creativity & commitment to her craft,” wrote Freitag. “She was always ahead of the curve and stood strong for everything she believed about what was the proper way to feed people good food & support her culinary community.”

On July 18, former “Top Chef” host Padma Lakshmi penned a tribute to Pomeroy.

“I am deeply saddened to hear of the untimely death of chef Naomi Pomeroy,” Lakshmi wrote. “She was always a welcome presence at judges table and I was blessed to get to know this inspiring woman over the years. My condolences to her loved ones, what an incredible loss to our community.”

Gail Simmons also posted a tribute to Pomeroy on July 18, writing about how they met.

“Heartbroken doesn’t cut it,” Simmons wrote in the caption of her post, adding that she first met Pomeroy the night she won Best New Chef in 2009. “In fact, the internet reminded me today that I was the one who handed it to her.”

“Fifteen years and countless laughs, texts and meals later I’m just as in awe of her cooking talent, generosity, sharp wit and general brilliance as I was back then,” she continued, sharing memories of her time with Pomeroy. “My whole heart to her family. Thank you Naomi for giving so much of yourself to us. You are forever loved.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com