‘Top Chef Masters’ Contestant Was 49

Naomi Pomeroy, the Portland-based Top Chef Masters contestant who was the recipient of the James Beard Award for Best Chef Pacific Northwest in 2014, died on Saturday in an accident on the Willamette River, according to multiple reports. She was 49.

Pomeroy was reportedly one of several people floating down the river near Corvallis via a paddle board and inner tubes that were lashed together. The assembly got stuck on a snag in the river and, according to AP, “Pomeroy was pulled under the water and trapped” as the paddle board leash would not let her up. Her husband, Kyle Linden Webster, and one other person were also caught, but escaped to shore. Pomeroy did not.

“Both yesterday and today, the Benton County Sheriff’s Office had staff … both Marine Patrol Deputies and Search and Rescue personnel, on the water, continuing the effort to recover the victim. Debris in river, currents, and ragged rocks, make it unsafe for divers to conduct any exploratory search under water. We will continue our efforts to recover the victim, to bring [closure] to the family and the community,” Benton County Sheriff Jef Van Arsdall told Eater late yesterday.

Pomeroy and her sous chef Mika Paredes opened Beast on September 2007. The restaurant put her on the map, leading to her being named one of Food & Wine magazine’s 10 Best New Chefs in America in 2009. Beast closed around the time of the pandemic. Her most-recent project was Expatriate, a bar she and Webster started. The bar was temporarily closed on Monday after her death.

On Top Chef, Pomeroy competed for Seed Savers Exchange, a nonprofit based near Decorah, Iowa, that preserves heirloom plant varieties.

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