John Kunkel, Founder & CEO of 50 Eggs Hospitality Group
Turning a love for food into a global restaurant empire is no small feat. For John Kunkel, founder and CEO of 50 Eggs Hospitality Group, it all started back in 2001 with a humble sandwich shop on Miami Beach. Having been in the restaurant business since he was 15, he dove headfirst into the industry, taking on every role imaginable. This hands-on experience was both challenging and rewarding, serving as the driving force behind his evolution from small business owner to the mastermind of an internationally acclaimed dining group.
The name “50 Eggs” was inspired by the 1967 classic film Cool Hand Luke, in which Paul Newman takes on the formidable challenge of eating fifty hard-boiled eggs, Kunkel channels that same spirit of audacity in his business perspective.
“There are a lot of things that you can’t learn unless you are in the moment doing it and you’ve put your mind to it,” he says. “That’s what inspired 50 Eggs; it’s all about defying the odds.”
CHICA Restaurant in Miami
One of the biggest challenges in the restaurant industry is maintaining quality and consistency, whether operating in a single city or across international markets. From the lively streets of Miami to the vibrant scenes of Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Singapore, each restaurant in his portfolio upholds a commitment to excellence that resonates with local culture. This success is driven by a unified team culture and a strong alignment of standards and values.
Here, Kunkel shares his insights on innovation and the importance of guest experiences as he embarks on expanding 50 Eggs Hospitality further.
What drew you to Singapore as the ideal location for 50 Eggs Hospitality Group’s expansion into the Asian market?
My first venture in Singapore and Asia was Yardbird. It was a no-brainer—Singapore is home to a diverse and progressive food culture with plenty of room for experimentation. With Yardbird, we were able to bring to life a culinary idea that wasn’t widely represented in Singapore. This paved the way for us to expand with WAKUDA. I leveraged relationships I’d built through Yardbird and we were able to bring Chef Tetsuya on board. It has been an incredibly rewarding experience.
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WAKUDA Singapore has been a standout Japanese restaurant at Marina Bay Sands since its opening. How has the concept evolved over the past two years to meet client preferences and trends in Singapore’s competitive dining landscape?
There’s an ethos I live by: “You’re only as good as the night before, when you made your customers happy.” We should never take any of the people who come to eat at our restaurants for granted. Our goal is always to evolve, giving our customers fresh and interesting reasons to come back while maintaining consistency in food and service. That’s how every restaurant under the 50 Eggs brand operates. We have and continue to push the boundaries; we introduce new items that were successful in other markets and that we see doing well in Singapore, but we also make sure to create dishes that are unique for the Singaporean tastebuds.
Can you share any insights into the creative process behind the new menu additions at WAKUDA Singapore? What exciting dishes should guests look forward to this season?
Great ideas can come from anywhere, and we take inspiration where we can, be it customer feedback or learning from our experiences in other markets. Our new menu item could be dishes that we saw doing very well with other audiences, but they could also be creations specific to Singapore, such as our speciality cocktail, the WAKUDA Sling – our interpretation of the iconic Singapore Sling.
The Sushi Experience at WAKUDA Singapore offers a highly curated 13-course journey. What was the inspiration behind this exclusive dining concept?
The Sushi experience at WAKUDA Singapore was always something we intended to bring to life in Singapore. We’re especially proud of how we source for our ingredients–it’s a quality rarely seen. The seafood is air-flown to ensure unparalleled quality. In the hands of our excellent Chef Pavel Nigai, we’re providing our customers with an experience that is hard to find and match.
Main Dining Room in WAKUDA Singapore
As someone who collaborates with acclaimed chefs like Tetsuya Wakuda and Lorena Garcia, what qualities do you look for in a chef partner? How do these partnerships shape the identity and storytelling behind each restaurant concept?
My first role in the restaurant business was as a cook, and I’ve been a student of the industry and the culinary arts ever since. The great thing about that is I know exactly what I’m looking for in a partner, be it a chef or a designer mixologist. I’ve always had a deep appreciation for the creative process and this goes beyond gastronomy and into areas like technology and design. When I find someone who shares that same passion and love for experimentation, it inspires me to think about how we can combine our talents.
With WAKUDA, you can really see this in action. We’re capturing the dynamic tension between traditional Japan and modern urban Tokyo through our cuisine, design, and art.
With over two decades in the hospitality industry, what key lessons have you learned in balancing creativity with operational efficiency across multiple concepts? How have these lessons influenced your leadership style and approach to growth?
The culinary industry is not for the weak, and having the right people around you is crucial. It takes a great team to execute a great restaurant. That’s why hiring the right team members to execute the vision of the restaurant, and creating a workplace that inspires everyone to bring their best, is so important to me. This is how we motivate one another to keep pushing boundaries, learning, and pursuing excellence.
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With your successful expansion into Asia, is Malaysia on the horizon for 50 Eggs? What aspects of Malaysia’s local dining culture excite you the most, and how do you envision integrating those elements into a potential venture?
Each time we’ve opened a new restaurant, it becomes our goal to become part of the fabric of that community. In Singapore, we’ve achieved this with Yardbird and WAKUDA, where we’ve not only introduced fresh culinary concepts for locals to enjoy but also created something unique in each restaurant tailored to Singapore.
We would love to expand our concepts to Malaysia, and we want to ensure we do it right. Our first step in this expansion is always to find a successful local partner who truly understands the market, allowing us to execute the best possible version of our concept.
What’s next for 50 Eggs Hospitality Group? Can you share any upcoming projects or new culinary concepts we should be excited about?
50 Eggs is a very unique hospitality company; we essentially went from fast-casual dining to attaining accolades like the prestigious Michelin star. We’re constantly evolving.
On one hand, we’re preparing to launch a new cocktail lounge within WAKUDA Vegas. It’s going to be edgy, fun, and energy-driven, and our goal is to be recognised as one of the best bars.
On the other, we’ve just started working with the Mavericks basketball team in Dallas to help them upgrade their food and beverage offerings for their fans. We have a very diverse skill set that enables us to attack all kinds of F&B concepts and processes. But the one consistent theme that ties this all together is that we always strive for excellence. No matter what we are working on, our first priority is making sure that our guests and partners are satisfied.
