Remembering Naomi Pomeroy: How the chef revolutionized Portland’s dining scene

Naomi Pomeroy, chef, producer and an icon in Portland’s culinary scene, died on July 13 at the age of 49. The nation informed portland per thirty days The day before they were concerned that Pomeroy had drowned during an indoor tubing tour on the Willamette River.

Pomeroy — through his gritty-meets-sophisticated ethos in early dinner clubs and, later, at his influential Northeast Portland restaurant Beast — helped define the Portland culinary scene that captured the national imagination in the early aughts. Each of Pomeroy’s strikes felt on the pulse, even a hint of what was to come: Freewheeling dinner events preceded pop-up developments; Early ideas demonstrated the ability to cook a whole pig; The prix fixe, “no substitutions please” menu embodied the spirit of the “rock star” chef’s now-bygone occasion.

“She was an inspiration, a pure force and was starting a brand new exciting chapter in her life,” Kristen D. Murray, chef-owner of Portland luncheonette Maurice, wrote on Instagram. “I’m afraid words fail me at the moment to convey how important, extraordinary and influential this amazing woman is. He ‘is’ these things and always will be.

On social platform X, chef and TV host Andrew Zimmern additionally paid tribute: “Naomi Pomeroy was a great chef, an icon, and a friend for many years. May his memory be a blessing to all who loved him.

A native of Corvallis, Oregon, Pomeroy first gained attention in the community in her mid-20s through an underground “family supper” dinner line with her then-partner Michael Hebb. The two found their own restaurant team, Rip, which opened Nation Supper (a café brand), Clarklewis and Gotham Tavern. In the end the gang erupted in spectacular fashion – apparently garnering endless local and nationwide press – propelling them to superstar status inside the business, and effecting a rift between Pomeroy and Hebb. However its influence was not hidden: Gabriel Rucker (Le Pigeon & Canard), Tommy Habetz (The Bunk Empire), Morgan Brownlow (formerly of Tails & Trotters), and Troy McLarty (Bollywood Theatre), who have since left their own mark on the local scene. All famously passed through the gates of Rype. (Nation Supper and Gotham Tavern closed in 2006, leaving Clarklewis the rest of the week.)

However, Pomeroy’s biggest impact was on his private restaurant Beast, which received almost immediate praise in 2007. There, her bold strategy – just one menu, two seats, everyone pushing the same 5 – 6 class week to the diner – was truly front and center, as Pomeroy and her team prepared each meal from a central Cooked and offered. Kitchen island with no covering. The dishes confirmed Pomeroy’s place: a silky veloute in one direction, followed by a meaty lamb chop with impromptu accompaniment, a decorative charcuterie plate that reached icon status. The Beast showed no question to Pomeroy in his eyes. Substitution or deviation from communal tables is famously denied; Pomeroy demanded complete trust from the diner, and asked the city’s growing cadre of adventurous eaters to embrace the pig and go off and enjoy the journey. Pomeroy will earn food and wine Best Possible Untapped Chef honor in 2009 and James Beard Award for Best Possible Chef: Northwest in 2014, the closest being 4 nominations.

The Beast became a symbol of the Portland culinary ethos on life, discussed in the same manner as Andy Rucker’s Pok Pok and Gabriel Rucker’s Le Pigeon. Each was a little cheesy, sometimes deliberately blaring temples to the eccentricity of the chef’s vision – helping to establish the city’s identity as one that welcomed the iconoclast.

The Beast’s precise approach was all the more impressive due to the fact that Pomeroy had refused formal cooking coaching, something she was always quick to prove. “I’m not even a trained chef,” Pomeroy said. eater upsell Podcast in 2017. “When I was 22, I started a catering company in my basement, and I didn’t really know what I was doing, and then I just kept trying stuff and people somehow decided that it was it was good. I have natural skills, and I really care about building a team. And I think what ultimately happened is that I got along really well with the people around me.

The Beast closed in October 2020, a casualty of a deadly disease. (During that lifetime, Pomeroy was a vocal supporter for the Free Restaurant Coalition, which lobbied for additional budget for restaurants.) Pomeroy moved the term to accommodate the Ripe Cooperative, a hybrid community restaurant and market. , which focuses on grabbing and selling. -Go to pieces. Reap itself will arrive in 2022. Most recently, he partnered with longtime Beast sous chef Mika Paredes on Cornette Custard, which started as a pop-up of Pomeroy’s flower store Colibri. Cornette likely opened the doors to its first standalone location on a SE Class side road in May. In the future, it was reported that Pomeroy also planned to build an untouched restaurant in the same building.

Pomeroy has partnered on projects with her husband, Kyle Linden Webster: the two opened the renowned Portland cocktail bar Expatriate in 2013 (Webster is co-owner of Yaowarat, which opened in October 2023). Pomeroy reveals cookbook style and methodology in 2006 and have made an impact Head Chef: Masters, head chef, iron chef usaAnd knife fight,

In 2023, Pomeroy told Eater Portland that she was excited for her upcoming projects. Pomeroy noted on Life, “I feel this very new, energetic enthusiasm for preserving the industry and making sure that fine dining doesn’t disappear.” “There are a lot of things in the industry that need to change, and I want to be at the forefront of that.”

Pomeroy is survived by Webster and his daughter. keeping pace with portland per thirty daysThe crowd is demanding privacy in this life, and not using a stream plan for a public monument.