THE NE TIMEAS NINE: Kara Bratcher

KARA BRATCHER, partner + chief financial officer

You started out as flour + water’s reservationist. Now you’re NTRG’s CFO and a partner in the company. How did you accomplish that? Ne Timeas was only flour + water when I started working with the company. I saw where the company was going and knew that it was something I wanted to be a part of. My positions developed over time and [founding partners] David, David, and Tom gave me a lot of freedom to learn and grow. I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.

What is your favorite memory at Ne Timeas thus far? I still miss my first office in “The Cage,” a very hot storage area above the flour + water bathrooms. No one knew who I was for the first couple of months because I would be up there all day answering phones and printing menus. Learning how to ski up in Tahoe with [former chef] Matt Sigler was pretty comical. Overall, my favorite memories are breaking bread and laughing over delicious food and wine.

Look back to the beginning–is Ne Timeas what you expected it to become? In many ways, it is. The people at the restaurants are what it is all about and that has not changed. At the same time, Ne Timeas has developed into something much more three-dimensional than I would have ever imagined after reading the first business plan.

Happiest food moment? Watching the first food come out of the kitchen at each of the openings.

What did you want to be when you grew up? Astronomer, dancer, artist. I got really into a book on constellations when I was a little kid.

Impressive fact about yourself. I was an art major in college and studied ballet for seventeen years. I was lucky to work with New York City Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Alvin Ailey, and Mark Morris. I also helped run a few art galleries and art non-profits before working at Ne Timeas.

What are your passions and interests outside of work? Mostly painting and traveling. I am lucky to have an art studio in the city that I get to on the weekends. I also enjoy going for hikes and running through the Presidio.

What’s your favorite dish on any of our menus right now? Pintxo gilda, clam escabeche verde, and estrella at Aatxe after work. Followed by a Golden Era at Cafe du Nord.

What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?

My first job was mowing lawns and cleaning houses when I was about 12. It is probably a tie between that and my first job as a host at a massive restaurant that turned into a dance club after dinner hours. I was 17 and it was a really bad, celebrity-owned spot. They would have me sit at the door and decide who was dressed well enough to come in. I walked out at some point.