(DailyDig.com) – Naomi Pomeroy, a celebrity chef in Portland, Oregon, who owned Expatriate, Beast, and Cornet Custard eateries, died in an accident on July 13 while inner tubing, apparently drowning. She was 49.
Her family asked for privacy, but they confirmed that she had been inner tubing on the Willamette River with her husband. The Benton County Sheriff’s Office sent firefighters and marine deputies to the scene where the swift river pulled the couple from their tubes into the river. The sheriff’s office reported that the current pulled the woman underwater. They said the strong currents impaired their efforts to rescue her and kept her underwater until she eventually drowned.
During the trip down the river, Pomeroy did not wear a life jacket, and the current did not allow rescuers to retrieve the body. The teams trying to retrieve her body were using pole cameras underwater to locate her, but they failed. They state that they will continue to search for her. They will also continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the accident.
As a talented chef, Pomeroy was a contestant on “Top Chef Masters” and a guest judge for the “Top Chef” television cooking competition show. In Portland, she was a popular chef for more than 10 years. She opened several venues, starting with Ripe Catering, her first venture, in 1999. Soon after that opening, she launched several more eateries, such as Family Supper, Gotham Coffee Shop, Clarklewis, and Gotham Tavern. She either sold or closed each of these eateries.
As an award-winning chef, she opened a restaurant, Beast, in 2007, and soon became esteemed in the world of culinary arts. In 2013, she opened Expatriate, a cocktail bar. Last June, she opened Cornet Custard, which began as a pop-up selling frozen custard in Colibri, her flower shop.
Pomeroy’s talent as a chef soon earned her the most prized James Beard Award for her culinary talent in 2014. In 2016, she published her cookbook, “Taste & Technique.” She was planning to open another restaurant later this year.
Her husband and daughter survived Pomeroy.
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