Mark Thomas, Class of 2004 – Owner, CJ’s Street Food

“I had been cooking for years, but I wanted to learn proper techniques and terminology.”

Wake Tech alumnus Mark Thomas is enjoying what he calls a “full circle moment.” Twice a month, the 37-year-old chef from Holly Springs parks his food truck on the college’s main campus – the very place that helped “heat up” his culinary career. “I think it’s so cool I’m back here at Wake Tech! I love interacting with the students, and we’re building a group of regulars!”

Mark Thomas, Class of 2004 – Owner, CJ’s Street Food

Mark was a culinary student at Wake Tech more than a decade ago, after he left a corporate restaurant job to become a chef. “I had been cooking for years, but I wanted to learn proper techniques and terminology.”

Mark took classes during the day and worked in a restaurant kitchen at night. “I’m not going to lie – it wasn’t easy. But my instructors really encouraged me,” he says. “They had a huge impact on my success.”

Upon graduating in 2004, Mark continued cooking in local restaurants, eventually becoming the chef de cuisine at Bloomsbury Bistro, a French restaurant in Raleigh. In 2012, he was ready to strike out on his own. He opened his food truck, CJ’s Street Food, where he serves Korean barbecue, fusion tacos, and rice bowls, as well as kimchi, a spicy Korean cabbage that he says he can’t make fast enough!

Opening his own business was one of Mark’s goals, and he says he’s thankful for the education and hands-on training that made it possible: “Wake Tech gave me the foundation for my career. When building a menu, if you have a solid foundation, you can get as creative as you want!”