Inside Sunderland's new gluten-free Seaglass Cafe

A new Sunderland city centre cafe has opened its doors serving a wide range of gluten-free options, to cater for those with food intolerances as well as those without.

The majority of dishes at The Seaglass Cafe are gluten-free, which means they can be enjoyed by diners with coeliac disease, as well as options for vegetarian, vegan and dairy-free diners.

The Seaglass Cafe has transformed the former Wings chicken bar in High Street West, which had stood empty since last summer.

It's the brainchild of North East businessman Liam Thompson who has teamed up with head chef James Usher, whose family have food intolerances.

"It was James who came up with the menu idea as he has experience of his family members struggling to find places with gluten-free options," said Liam.

"Or, sometimes, with an option such as a Full English, places will just remove the gluten items yet charge people the same price. We wanted to offer options where nothing has been removed at a fair price."

There's a wide range of breakfast and cafe options on the menu including Full English, omelettes, jacket potatoes, toasties, sandwiches, tray bakes, scones and more.

Prices range from £4 for a soup and a roll to £9.50 for the big Full English. There's also a range of soft drinks and coffees, made with coffee roasted by Washington-based social enterprise Cracked Bean Roastery.

There's also a kids' menu as well as a dog menu of puppucinos. The cafe also do doggy bags of leftover food for pets so it doesn't go to waste.

It's only the first few days of trading and Liam says word is still to get out about the cafe, but he's had positive feedback from those who have visited so far.

"One couple said we could have charged a lot more for what they had, and we've already had a return customer," said the business owner. "People also seem to like the wide range we offer and will be recommending us to people they know with food intolerances."

Liam had first looked at a unit in Seaham, which fell through, but the name of the cafe, inspired by the sea glass that washes up on Seaham's beaches, stuck.

It joins neighbour Manjaros, a chicken and Caribbean restaurant, which recently opened for takeaway, with sit in options due to be available soon.

Over the road, talks are ongoing with cinema operators to run the former Empire Cinema, which went into administration last year, as a cinema once more.

Liam added: "It's great to join another new business on this stretch of shops. Sunderland is a city undergoing a lot of regeneration so it's great to be a part of that."