'Oven-Hot' Reception for Gluten-Free Pizza at Harry's Bishops Corner

is usually closed on Mondays, so the reason for the mob at the take-out counter and 40-plus minute wait for seating on Monday evening was fairly obvious.

From 5-8 p.m. Monday, Harry's offered free taste testing of its new gluten-free pizza, with a variety of toppings. There were so many people waiting to be seated that they spilled over into the adjacent office building lobby.

Steve Saindon of Newington had been waiting with his family for a table at Harry's for at least 30 minutes Monday evening. He and his 11-year-old daughter Carly both have Celiac Disease, and are unable to eat products containing gluten. Regular pizza is not on their diet, so they were excited to have a place to eat pizza relatively close to home.

Other customers said they hadn't had pizza in years, and were happy that Harry's was now offering them an option. Some came just for the free samples, and a few said they weren't sure they liked the consistency of the crust, which was different from what they were accustomed to.

In order to create gluten-free pizza, Harry's owners contracted with Still Riding Pizza of Bridgeport to supply the crust. Still Riding produces its crusts in a dedicated gluten-free facility to ensure that the product is not contaminated, and works closely with pizza parlors to meet their specific needs. According to Still Riding Pizza, the crust contains: rice flour, tapioca flour and starch, bean flour, egg, canola oil, cider vinegar, sugar, salt, yeast, xanthan gum, and calcium propionate.

Liz Silverman, founder of Still Riding Pizza, was diagnosed with Celiac Disease 17 years ago, when such diagnoses were still relatively rare. Two of her three children – both boys – also have Celiac Disease, but they both like to eat a lot, Silverman said.

"Pizza is very important at birthday parties and other events. When you can't eat it, you're left out. There's a real emotional component," she said. Silverman believed she could create a gluten-free pizza crust good enough to sell, and with Still Riding she has done just that. She said that the process of creating gluten-free crust is completely different from regular pizza crust.

Silverman started the business just four years ago, but no longer has to make sales calls; the pizza parlors find her. Still Riding's crusts are also kosher-certified, and many of her customers own kosher pizzerias.

"I never in my wildest dreams thought there would be this many people interested," Silverman said.

For information about Harry's Bishops Corner's gluten-free menu, visit their website.