Naomi Pomeroy Biography – Naomi Pomeroy Wiki

Naomi Pomeroy was an award-winning chef and restaurateur in Portland. She rose to prominence in the Portland food scene after opening the restaurant Beast in 2007. She was also known for her appearance on cooking shows, including “Top Chef Masters,” “Iron Chef,” and was a recurring judge on “Top Chef.”

Pomeroy started out as a self-taught chef who wrote her first recipe at the age of 4. Born in Corvallis, Oregon, Pomeroy, opened her first culinary venture at age 24 with Ripe Catering in 1999. Shortly afterward, she launched an underground supper club called Family Supper before “going legit” and opening Gotham Coffee Shop in 2002, Clarklewis in 2004 and Gotham Tavern in 2005, according to her cookbook author bio.

After those ventures closed or were sold, Pomeroy opened up her buzzy and intimate restaurant Beast in 2007. In 2020, the space then transformed into Ripe Cooperative, a marketplace and restaurant selling preordered meal boxes. During her time at Beast, she and her husband Kyle Webster partnered up to open a cocktail bar, Expatriate, in 2013.

She was selected as one of America’s best new chefs by Food & Wine in 2009. O, The Oprah Magazine, named her one of 10 women on the rise. Pomeroy was the 2014 recipient of a James Beard Award for Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific. She also had numerous appearances on popular food competition television shows. Ms. Pomeroy lost to Jose Garces over a truffle battle on “Iron Chef” in 2010 and was a recurring judge on “Top Chef.”

Naomi Pomeroy Age

Naomi Pomeroy was born in Corvallis, about 80 miles south of Portland, on Nov. 30, 1974. She died on July 13, 2024, near Corvallis, Oregon. She was 49 years old.

Naomi Pomeroy Husband

Naomi Pomeroy was married to her husband, Kyle Linden Webster, a fellow restaurateur. Ms. Pomeroy was previously married to her first husband Michael Hebb.

Naomi Pomeroy Family

Chef Naomi Pomeroy is survived by her husband, Kyle Linden Webster; daughter, August Pomeroy; her parents, Toby Gene Pomeroy and Karen Walz; her stepmother, Ronna Pomeroy; and two half brothers, Andrew and Colin Pomeroy.

Naomi Pomeroy Daughter

Top Chef Masters contestant Naomi Pomeroy and her first husband Michael Hebb have a daughter, August Pomeroy, born in 2000.

Naomi Pomeroy Net Worth

Award-winning chef Naomi Pomeroy had an estimated net worth of $1 Million.

Since 2002, Pomeroy and her first husband Michael Hebb hosted a series of underground suppers in their home. Their quirky restaurant empire and marriage blew up in spectacular fashion several years later. One day, in 2006, her first husband Michael Hebb told her that the money was gone. He left town that night, leaving her to face angry investors and nearly 100 disillusioned employees as a single mother with little money, The New York Times reported. Ms. Pomeroy emerged from the ashes with Beast, a tiny French-influenced restaurant that opened in 2007 with little more than two induction burners and a couple of communal tables.

Death

Renowned chef Naomi Pomeroy died in a tubing accident on July 13, 2024, her family confirmed to Portland Monthly magazine. According to the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, Pomeroy drowned in a tubing accident in the Willamette River about 100 yards upstream from Mary’s River.

An investigation by the sheriff’s office stated that three floaters on tubes and a paddle board that were tethered together got caught in a snag in the water. Pomeroy got pulled under the water and held down by the paddle board leash, said the sheriff’s office.

Corvallis Fire Department was first on scene with a boat. Fire department personnel rescued two floaters and transported them to a boat launch, but they were unable to recover Pomeroy.

Pomeroy’s family told Portland Monthly that one of the other floaters was Naomi Pomeroy’s husband Kyle Linden Webster.