"I moved to New York in my early 20s and covered pastry shifts at Gramercy Tavern. It was a great crew: Tom Colicchio, Claudia Fleming. Marcus Samuelsson asked me to come over to Aquavit. My career was great, but at one point, I hadn't gone home to Pasadena in five years... I wanted to make family a priority again. When I quit, Marcus said, 'You could have been a superstar!' I said, 'Not like this.'" — Maurice chef/owner Kristen D. Murray, to Portland Monthly, on career pressures in New York City. [PoMo]
