Days after award-winning Portland chef Naomi Pomeroy drowned in an accident on the Willamette River, Oregon authorities said they had recovered her body.
Other American chefs have mourned the passing of the 49-year-old self-taught chef and cookbook author, with José Andrés calling her “an amazing chef, better person and a great overall talent”.
Pomeroy rose to prominence in the Portland food scene after opening the restaurant Beast in 2007. The restaurant paved the way for her to win a coveted James Beard award for best chef in the north-west in 2014. She appeared as a contestant on Top Chef Masters and Iron Chef, and as a judge on other cooking reality shows.
“Naomi was a powerhouse chef who made an indelible mark on the culinary industry,” Top Chef said in a statement 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.
— Bravo Top Chef (@BravoTopChef) July 16, 2024
In an obituary, the New York Times called Pomeroy the “culinary matriarch of Portland” who helped make the city “the locus of a radical new style of fine dining”.
Her career began in the early 2000s with a series of “underground suppers in their home” which the Times credited with helping “start Portland’s renegade restaurant culture and the national pop-up restaurant craze”.
She had recently opened an ice cream store with a longtime collaborator and was working on the launch of a French restaurant, Portland Monthly reported.
Devastated to hear we tragically lost the super talented chef Naomi Pomeroy. She and I bonded over stressful cooking challenges on Top Chef Masters season 3…… my heart goes out to Kyle, August and all her dear friends. 💔 pic.twitter.com/mAigfILdvm
— Mary Sue Milliken (@MarySueMilliken) July 16, 2024
Pomeroy died Saturday evening after the group she was inner-tubing with got caught on an exposed snag in the water, the Benton county sheriff’s office said. Pomeroy was pulled under the water and trapped by a paddle board leash attached to her, Captain Chris Duffitt said.
Authorities said the other two people in the group were safely transported to a boat launch.
Just horrible news, we lost another great chef.
— Tom Colicchio (@tomcolicchio) July 16, 2024
My heart goes out to Naomi’s family.https://t.co/JK6FxOhNZV
Portland Monthly reported that Pomeroy’s husband, Kyle Linden Webster, had been part of the group. “Her family asks for privacy at this moment; there are no plans yet for a memorial,” the magazine reported.
The sheriff’s office said it located Pomeroy’s body Wednesday morning in the Willamette River between Corvallis and Albany after canoers called 911.
Authorities said they had notified her family and released her body to a funeral home.
The Associated Press contributed reporting