Meet the Mercer Island Café general Manager

About Joshua Kull

Joshua Kull landed their first job at 14, babysitting and gardening for families in Connecticut. Since then, they’ve tackled a range of jobs—ride operator at an amusement park, concierge at a hotel, florist, and stints at a NYC bar, a supermarket, a country club, and a fresh-pressed juice bar in Los Angeles. They’re a jack-of-all-trades!

In 2019, ready for a change, they moved to Seattle with their brother. They applied at Macrina’s SODO bakery and found a home. “I wanted to find somewhere that felt different from the other jobs I’ve had, one where I could grow, learn, and truly cared about the product and people I worked with. From my very first interview, I got such a good intuition about Macrina, and I’ve been hooked ever since.”

After working at the SODO café with Gretchen as her assistant manager, Joshua left in 2022 to become GM of the Aloha café. “I love that café and crew. The customers were fantastic. There are a lot of families and people who live in the neighborhood, and I love creating connections with our regulars. We created a small community in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, and that’s something I will always value.”

In late 2024, as Macrina began planning a café on Mercer Island, Joshua jumped at the chance to open it. “Getting the chance to help build a café from its beginning and to engage with a whole new community is such a great opportunity, and I’m happy for my small part in this team effort.” Though the job includes some office work, you’ll usually find them on the floor, chatting with customers, making silly noises, or laughing with the team.

Hometown: Simsbury, CT

First Job: Neighborhood Gardner

Alternate Universe Job: Supernatural Investigator

Pastry You Couldn’t Live Without: Chocolate Oat Peanut Butter Cookie, lightly underbaked and a little gooey, with a glass of oat milk

Weekend Getaway: A day by the lake

Binge Food: Vegan “Chicken” Nuggets

Dream Vacation: Egypt

Favorite Seattle Restaurant: Lyon’s Grocery

Food You Despise: Stringy cheese. I know everyone loves it, but absolutely not, no thank you

Guilty Pleasure: Dungeons & Dragons

What You Listen to Now: Bon Iver

Favorite Movie: The Holy Mountain