Justin Woodward, respected chef in the Portland restaurant scene for more than a decade, died Oct. 2 in San Diego, Calif. He was 43. The cause was liver failure due to alcoholism, according to his family.

Woodward was the chef at Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard fine dining restaurant Castagna starting in 2011, and then at sister restaurant OK Omens until 2024. He was as a James Beard Award finalist for Best Chef: Northwest five consecutive times from 2015-2019. According to 2017 WW coverage of Castagna, “chef Justin Woodward offers surprises, risks and that rarest of qualities in this city: elegance.”

Woodward was born in Boston, Mass., and raised in Southern California. He studied culinary arts at the Art Institute of San Diego and worked at restaurants around the world, such as in Ne

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