Sporting an apron and an armful of tattoos, Ria Pell is easy to recognize when she emerges
from the kitchen at Ria’s Bluebird.Self-touted as a “hot hunk of big ol’ dyke (hummina hummina),” Chef Pell carries herself as if she owns the place, and she does. “I wonder if Slayer could be my backing band if we went to Food Network,” she recently pondered aloud.Pell isn’t haughty, just proud. And she has the right to be. She opened her namesake restaurant four years ago, and to tire of her distinctive comfort food might be impossible.With counter service and an extensive breakfast menu, the restaurant has the makings of a diner, and with wood-planked walls and heaping helpings of gravy, perhaps even a country diner. But really basic diner fare is an insult to the depth of Pell’s kitchen. FULL ARTICLE