Team

Our team has become a family and together, we care about making our guests feel at home.

Working in a learning and collaborative environment, though we have our specialties, many of us are cross trained to allow flexibility and adaptability in our service.

Together we share values that are centred around community, quality & sustainability

Our Story

My best memories as a child were around a table with good wholesome food, music, and conversation. These cherished memories, though limited in material things, were filled with years of exploring through travel, meeting incredible people and sharing simple yet exceptional food experiences (sometimes out of a Coleman cooler in the trunk of our station wagon). I think this, and the fact that we lived in such tight spaces growing up, are where I drew my inspiration for creating beautiful spaces for people to connect and enjoy great food and coffee in.

My work took me into a rigorous military career until 2018, when life circumstances created an uncomfortable pause from my natural pace of busyness and gave me time to reflect on my past and grieve the hard parts. As I started to explore my dreams of opening a cafe, I began to experience healing and realized that I could still have an impact in my community through entrepreneurship.

In 2019, the opportunity came to work alongside Jamie Hodges and Amber Thom, the original owners of the Juniper. Their concept of farm-to-table house-made sandwiches, soup, salads, and baked goods resonated well with me. The Juniper’s growing community embraced the same values, creating a natural launchpad for me to continue growing the cafe and building spaces for memorable moments.

Through entrepreneurship, I’ve been afforded opportunities to make meaningful change in my community and live out my values by building my team, supporting other business owners, and contributing to the academic and arts communities.

I’m so grateful for our guests’ shared and growing vision for the Juniper. Thank you for your support and believing in this vision with me, and for helping bring it to life in our second location (est. 2023).

Raissa | Owner & Operator

Join our team

1. Send your resume to info@junipercafe.ca and tell us why you'd like to join our team.

2. We will hold on to your resume until a position opens up at which point you will be contacted for an interview.

3. Successful applicants only will be contacted.

POSITIONS

Back of House Kitchen Crew

Baker* | currently open

Catering Manager* | currently open

Barista

Our principles

At the Juniper Cafe, we are committed to creating memorable moments in beautiful spaces. We believe setting the table for those moments is about more than amazing food – it calls for an environment steeped with character, music, art, and rich conversations, creating a place where our community builds and fosters connection.

At our waterfront and Terra Verde locations, we are grateful to be part of Kingston’s vibrant landscape. Come in, grab a chair, breathe, connect, and enjoy our Mediterranean-inspired menu.

Everything we do comes back to our three guiding principles that inform our values like kindness, learning, openness, and flexibility:

Community: Our home is your home. Our community starts with my team and the investment in their wellbeing through training, a meaningful compensation package, and deliberate work-life balance. By empowering them with skill-sets, they can be present with each of our guests. Together, we give back by supporting our academic and arts communities, our fellow entrepreneurs, and local food rescue partners. Through showcasing art and music in our spaces, along with running events and supporting local art initiatives, we are proud to foster environments steeped in creativity and connection.
Sustainability: Reducing waste, advocating for change, buying local – these are small practices at our cafe that contribute to a growing understanding of sustainability. But alone they are not enough and we need to be doing more as a community. At the Juniper, we strive not to just talk about sustainability, but to live it. Our daily choices are refined by an unwavering advocacy that nothing should be wasted. That means buying the right amount of supplies and using the right amount of packaging. It’s looking for ways to connect with our environment, which includes buying local and hiring local. In a society where so much is done quickly and cheaply, we see the value and beauty in slowing down and embracing quality.
Quality: Our goal is to create consistently exceptional experiences every time you visit the Juniper. Good quality lasts. It lingers like the flavour of an amazing cup of coffee, or the distinct taste of a salad dressing perfected by experimentation and collaboration until that perfect combination of quality local ingredients is achieved.

Abundance at the Juniper is focused on connection and service, not on the excessive. For this reason, we keep our menu small and ingredients simple, enabling us to offer a superior experience for our guests. Quality means focusing on well made food in a well maintained and clean environment, where we are continually learning.

By living through our guiding principles, we reduce our environmental impact in everything we do, from the plates we use to serve you to our curated design choices, each guiding principle is interconnected.