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Sonoran Food Guide: A Love Letter to Sonoran Wheat

For James Beard Award–winning chef Don Guerra of Barrio Bagel & Slice in Gilbert, Arizona, wheat isn’t just an ingredient — it’s a story. In the Sonoran Desert, where winds sweep across fields and generations have coaxed life from this arid soil, the humble golden grain becomes a bridge between place and plate.

In this episode of our Sonoran Food Guide, we follow Don as he mills, mixes, and bakes with a reverence earned from years of championing heritage grains. Each loaf that emerges from his ovens carries the memory of the Sonoran Desert's soil, the aroma of warm dough, and the unmistakable character of a desert-born wheat that thrives against the odds.

This is our love letter to Sonoran Desert wheat: to its resilience, its deep cultural roots, its warm crumb and crackling crust. And with Don Guerra — baker, storyteller, and steward of this grain — we celebrate the ingredient that grounds our region and continues to shape its culinary soul.