Award-winning Portland chef Naomi Pomeroy drowns in Willamette River

James Beard-award-winning chef Naomi Pomeroy, whose restaurant Beast was one of the food establishments that contributed to Portland’s rising stature as a culinary center in the 2000s, drowned Saturday night in the Willamette River near Corvallis.

Family members confirmed to Portland Monthly that Pomeroy died in a river accident over the weekend as she was inner tubing with her husband.

According to the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, marine deputies and firefighters were dispatched Saturday after receiving reports of a couple being pulled into a snag in the river and that a woman had been dragged underwater.

The Benton County Sheriff’s Office said strong currents were a factor in the drowning and hindered recovery efforts. She was not wearing a life vest at the time.

Rescue crews attempted to use sonar and underwater pole cameras to reach Pomeroy but were unsuccessful. Marine deputies are still working to recover Pomeroy’s body. An investigation is underway.

Pomeroy was one of the most acclaimed chefs in the city for more than a decade. Beast, in Northeast Portland’s Concordia neighborhood, opened in 2007 and netted her a coveted James Beard award in 2014. She and her husband opened a cocktail bar across the street from Beast, known as Expatriate, more than a decade ago.

Beast closed during the pandemic, but according to The Oregonian, Pomeroy was in the process of opening a new restaurant on Southeast Division Street in Portland later this year. Beast offered world-class dining in an intimate, communal table setting, plopped in the middle of a residential neighborhood.