First reported by The Oregonian and Kezi News in Eugene, Naomi Pomeroy, the famed chef respected throughout the Portland food scene and beyond, died Saturday at the age of 49. She died while tubing on Mary’s River when the group she was with hit a snag. She was not wearing a life jacket.
From Kezi.com,
Patrol Lieutenant Toby Bottorff reported that the incident occurred after 8 p.m., when three inner tubers were floating downriver from Crystal Lake toward Michael’s Landing. The inner tubes, which were tied together, encountered a snag on the Willamette River about 100 yards upstream from the Marys River.
Authorities said the female victim, who was not wearing a life jacket, went underwater and did not resurface. The other two tubers, one of whom was her husband, survived the incident.
Naomi had a long history in Portland, starting with dinners at her house, Gotham Tavern, Ripe Cooperative, Clarklewis, and Beast. In 2014 she won the James Beard Award for Best Chef Northwest. Naomi was a judge on season 18 of Top Chef Oregon. She wrote Taste & Technique: Recipes to Elevate Your Home Cooking. Most recently she was in the process of opening Cornet Custard on SE Division Street in Portland.
According to The Oregonian, her husband, Kyle Linden Webster survived.
My best wishes to her family for this awful news.
I don’t post here anymore, but this shook me so much that I wanted to talk about it here. I will have more personal stories soon.
Pdxer1 says
I’m beyond sad.
Mathieu says
Unbelievably tragic. Ms. Pomeroy was behind some of the most memorable plates of food I have enjoyed in Portland over the years. And for me, she was a connection to a glorious, bygone era of Portland dining, stemming back to the early 2000’s. I hope her family is comforted by that fact that she touched so many lives through the kitchen and has left a big imprint on Portland.
red says
Oh, that’s awful! We’re thinking of her family and sending lots of love. This such a loss for her loved ones and the community.