Pomeroy had no formal culinary or business training; she developed her skills by watching other food-industry professionals. In the early 2000s, she and her then-partner, both in their twenties, ran a
pop-up supper series. According to
The New York Times, those events "helped start Portland's renegade restaurant culture and the national pop-up restaurant craze". In 2007, she opened the restaurant
Beast in
Portland, Oregon. Previously, she started
Gotham Tavern, Gotham Coffee shop, and
Clarklewis with Michael Hebb. In 2013,
Working Mother magazine featured an article detailing Pomeroy's experiences as a working single parent. In 2010, Pomeroy appeared on
Iron Chef and lost to Chef
Jose Garces. She appeared on the 2011 season of
Top Chef Masters. Her television appearances also include serving as a judge on
Top Chef, ''
Bobby's Triple threat, and Knife Fight''. Pomeroy also spoke at a TedxPortland Talk in 2013. Pomeroy published her first cookbook in 2016 with
Ten Speed Press. According to
Publishers Weekly, the working title for the cookbook was
Oui: Lessons from an Award-Winning Self-Taught Chef. Pomeroy's cookbook, released in 2016, was entitled
Taste & Technique: Recipes to Elevate Your Home Cooking. Her restaurant, Beast, closed in 2020 during the
COVID-19 pandemic, and Pomeroy used the space for a new venture called
Ripe Cooperative, a marketplace that also sold meal boxes for customers to finish at home until 2022. During the pandemic she helped found the
Independent Restaurant Coalition, an organization that advocated for federal assistance for US restaurants and restaurant employees. As a restaurateur, she was recognized in the October 2010 issue of
Marie Claire as one of the eighteen most powerful women in business.
O, The Oprah Magazine mentioned her career endeavors and named her as one of the top ten "women on the rise" for 2010. In 2014, Pomeroy won the
James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef Northwest. According to
Portland Monthly, she was "synonymous with Portland's independent food scene".
Eater Portland, reacting to her death, said Pomeroy "helped define the Portland culinary scene that so captured the national imagination in the early aughts". According to
The New York Times, she was the city's "culinary matriarch" and had "made Portland a dining destination". == Personal life and death ==