How I wound up on a Magnolia Network show with 4 Arizona chefs

I’ve often wondered what it’s like to participate in a travel and cooking show, to hear the chefs’ stories and try the food. What I did not realize when I accepted a dinner party invitation from local baker Thalia Roessel was that I would soon know the answer.

Roessel is one of four Arizona chefs who are the subject of an episode of “Getting Lost with Erin French,” which will air on Sunday afternoon.

“Getting Lost” is a new show in which French and her husband Michael Dutton pack up an Airstream trailer and hit the road for a cross-country culinary adventure meeting chefs along the way. In this episode, titled “Arizona: Fire & Spice,” French forages, discovers the flavors of the desert and cooks over fire.

James Beard Award-winning chef Rene Andrade of Bacanora and Huarachis Taqueria, James Beard Award-nominated chefs Brett Vibber and Jaren Bates of Wild Arizona Cuisine and Roessel, the baker behind Scone On? spent time cooking and talking with French, who also owns The Lost Kitchen in Freedom, Maine.

The episode was filmed in February and includes an intimate dinner party. Roessel, who makes scones and other baked goods that blend her culinary training with her Diné heritage and Indigenous ingredients, invited me because French learned of Roessel’s work from an article I’d written.

Outside of an address and a sense of the dress code, I was flying pretty blind with what to expect at the dinner. For whatever reason, I envisioned a large event where French and some of the Valley’s local chefs would collaborate on a meal and share some tidbits of inspiration. Maybe there'd be a cookbook signing.

Instead, I soon found myself sipping a bacanora cocktail, desperately trying to stay out of the way of the camera crew, and taking in the all-star, open-air chef’s table that was happening in front of me.

Dutton showed Andrade the mahogany skin he’d achieved on chickens, split in half and cooking over a wood-fired grill. Bates fired up a second grill to get a quick kiss of char on a bunch of scallions. French and Roessel were finishing up garnishes for the dessert, a butter cake that French had likewise baked on the grill.

All this cooking culminated with eight of us gathering around a table, passing platters and listening to the chefs swap stories as the sun set and the coyotes started to yip.

While I don’t know what viewers will see from that dinner in Sunday’s show, it was eye-opening to be in a position I’d so often wondered about. Much like any good dinner party, I left thinking much more about the conversation. Sitting and hearing from each of these chefs gave me a much deeper understanding of who they are and what drives them to cook for others. On Sunday, viewers everywhere may just feel the same way.

The episode airs at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Fans can watch on the Magnolia Network or stream it on Max or Discovery+.