A Culinary Dream Come True

Some people just can't get spend enough time in the kitchen. That includes a young woman from Gallatin, Tenn., who inherited a love of food from her mother. Now she's living a few miles south of Nashville, still chasing her culinary dreams.

Shannon Davis is trying to turn a passion for cooking into a career in the kitchen.

"Whatever they ask me to do, I'll do it," she says.

Her mom, Sherry Adcock, remembers her daughter's early days amidst the pots and pans.

"Even when she was a little girl, she wouldn't let people touch her kitchen," Adcock says, "Like, put her dishes away, she'd say, 'No, no, have to do them my way.'"

There's volunteer work, too. Davis' mom is a nurse. Together, they help multiple sclerosis patients learn to simplify things in the kitchen.

"When she cooks, that's when she's happy," Adcock says of her daughter. "And that's really funny, because where most people find cooking stressful, that's the way we relieve stress."

Greg West supervises the Cool Wave Cafe at Gallatin High School, where Davis worked, serving faculty and county employees.

He points out, "Not every child is gonna go to college after this. Here, they get an opportunity to get some work skills, find out what it's going to be like once they leave school if they decide not to go to college."

Davis says, "He taught me that I was good at what I do, and to have confidence in myself."

She was good enough to win a partial scholarship to attend a culinary arts school, but her parents weren't sure about an investment of more than $90,000. They wanted Davis to prove her maturity level at a community college first.

Adcock recalls, "She tried school and said, 'You know what? I'm going to jump right in feet first,' but it was really hard work."

For nearly three years, Davis has tried to make it on minimum wage, sometimes working two jobs. There was overtime and weekend and holiday work, and never mind that professional kitchens have traditionally been a man's world.

"She cut off the tip of her finger one time," Adcock says, "And you're kind of like, 'Wow. I mean, are you willing to keep doing this?' Because (for) a young girl to see the burns or the hands that are raw from washing them so much..."

Adcock watched people come and go in several kitchens and wondered if she should go, too.

"She almost got very close to giving up her dream," her mom says, "She actually took a secretarial position, and part of her liked it, but the other part of her said, 'You know, I'm not where I want to be.' "

About two months ago, Davis answered a newspaper ad for help in the kitchen at a Nashville country club.

Executive chef Jim Napolitano hired Davis to float wherever help is needed in his kitchen.

He says, "You have to be 100 percent committed and you have to love what you're doing. You have to have a love for the profession. It's a certain type of personality that fits into it."

Davis might be a fit. She says, "I want to prove people wrong that I can handle it. Whatever excuse it is. I just want to prove that I can."

On The Early Show, Davis tells co-anchor Julie Chen about breaking the news to her parents that she wanted to drop out of college.
"They didn't understand, but it's reality: You have to work in it before you go to school," she says.

Adcock says she was disappointed, but thought she understood.

Believing she was visiting The Early Show as part of a series geared to graduation season, Davis thought she was going to tell viewers how important it is to stick to your guns, even when things aren't going well. But instead, she was speechless after finding out her mom asked for a wish, and it was about to be granted.

Adcock read a portion of the letter she wrote to the Week of Wishes with tears in her eyes:

"My daughter, Shannon, is 20 years old and has been involved in culinary arts since high school. She found even though it is her passion, it is not an easy field. She's a wonderful person who had a hard year and I would love it if my daughter could spend the day with Bobby Flay and rekindle the fire in her heart. I know she will never be the same."

And so Chef Flay joined them and congratulated Davis for having such strong desires to stick to this profession in which he has been involved his whole adult life.

He says, "You are going to meet wonderful people in it, and ambition is the most important thing. Obviously, you have it. Today, I am going to bring you to my new restaurant, Bar Americain, and get your hands dirty, and then, bring you to the Food Network and show you the inner workings of what goes on there as well.

Now this is only part of the surprise. The dean at Johnson & Wales University, College of Culinary Arts, had something for Davis as well.

"We want to make your dream come true and provide you with a four-year full scholarship to any of our campuses at Johnson & Wales," Karl Guggenmos tells her.

That scholarship is worth about $80,000.

As Davis embarks on this life-changing dream, Guggenmos says, "There's no magic to it. As the chef will tell you, put your head down, work hard, stay true to your profession and do a great job. No magic, but it's a great profession."

All Davis was able to say was "I love you," to her mom.

The Early Show thanks Continental Airlines for flying them in to the show, as well as chef Bobby Flay, Johnson & Wales University and the Food Network.

The following day, Davis joined Flay on The Early Show, as he demonstrated how to make a trout salad, an entrée offered at his new restaurant.

"She did great," Flay tells co-anchor Julie Chen. "I think that she was a little shell-shocked by the whole morning yesterday. So it was still morning when we went to Bar Americain. Then you (to Davis) went down to Mesa Grill (also Flay's restaurant) and had something to eat."

When she went home, she says, she scribbled down notes on everything she learned throughout the day. "It was great," she says.