First Gluten (and Lactose) Free Restaurant Opens

So many firsts. Hope some of them last.

Back in March I told you about the first gluten free store to open. Now comes news about the first gluten free restaurant in North America.

Splitt isn't exactly convenient, unless you live in southwest Calgary, Alberta, Canada. And it took a lot of work just to get it open.

It has taken six months and consultation with the Canadian Celiac Association for Splitt to craft a menu that they say won't make celiacs sick.

"It's been quite challenging actually," says chef Steaphen Cleary. "There aren't a lot of products out there."

Splitt, so named because it's a restaurant during the day and a nightclub in the evening, offers everything from egg breakfasts to steak dinners. Its menu notes that all items are gluten and lactose free, with the exception of beverages, although it also offers gluten-free alcohol -- such as certain liquors and wines. Bread products are also available without gluten.

Pasta and wheat bread, for example, are no-nos for celiac sufferers. So Splitt created a Mexican lasagna that uses soft corn tortillas in place of pasta layers and offers a rice bun with its jalapeno stuffed burger.

Will it last? Who knows? The percentage of people thought to be gluten intolerant is growing but is still considered to be no more than 1% of the population, hardly enough to sustain a restaurant. Those of us with lactose intolerance are a larger percentage, though, and since most people with gluten intolerance are also LI we may be enough to make the difference.

More speciality stores; more specialty restaurants. Good signs for the future.