'Top Chef Masters,' 'Iron Chef' Star Drowns in Freak Accident

James Beard award-winning chef Naomi Pomeroy, who has appeared in several reality cooking competition series including Top Chef Masters and Iron Chef, died over the weekend in a tubing accident on the Willamette River near Corvallis, OR.

According to the New York Times, Pomeroy, 49, and her husband, fellow restaurateur Kyle Linden Webster, were floating down the river with another friend on Saturday afternoon in two inner tubes and a paddle board that had been secured together when they hit a submerged branch. All three were thrown into fast moving water, but while the other two were recovered safely, Pomeroy became stuck underwater.

The Benton County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release on Tuesday that the body of the 49-year-old had not yet been located due to heavy debris in the water, but that the search continued.

"An investigation by BCSO determined three adults recreating on tubes and a paddle board (two tubes were secured together and the paddle board was attached to Naomi), became entangled on an exposed snag in the water," the agency stated. "One of the adults, Naomi, was pulled under the water and unable to free herself due to the paddleboard leash."

Pomeroy is credited with refining the culinary landscape in Portland through the mid-2000s—opening her now-shuttered restaurant Beast in 2007—before making her foray into reality TV. In 2010, she faced off against Chef Jose Garces on an episode of Iron Chef, and appeared as a contestant on the third season of Top Chef Masters in 2011. She placed fourth in the competition, and was invited back to the original Top Chef several times over the years as a guest judge.

"The Bravo and Top Chef family send our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Chef Naomi Pomeroy," the series posted in a statement on social media on Tuesday. "Naomi was a powerhouse chef who made an indelible mark on the culinary industry."

The Bravo and Top Chef family send our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Chef Naomi Pomeroy. Naomi was a powerhouse chef who made an indelible mark on the culinary industry.

— Bravo Top Chef (@BravoTopChef) July 16, 2024

Food critic Karen Brooks, who had covered Pomeroy’s culinary career since 2002, once described the self-taught chef as "kind of like Julia Child as a riot grrrl."

Pomeroy is survived by Webster, and the couple's child who was born in 2000.