PHOTO VIA THE TWISTED HANDLE FACEBOOK PAGE
Chef Hung Huynh (Instagram), winner of Top Chef Season 3, is opening a new Southeast Asian-inspired restaurant called Pomelo (Instagram) in Orlando’s Mills 50 district. The restaurant will be located at 1632 N. Mills Avenue [GMap], in the space formerly occupied by Twisted Handle and The Brass Tap. Scheduled to open in spring 2026, the 2,600 SF venue will include seating for about 120 guests, with both indoor and outdoor bar areas.
According to Faiyaz Kara of Orlando Weekly, Pomelo will focus on live-fire cooking and bold, tropical flavors drawn from across Southeast Asia. The menu will feature grilled seafood, skewers, charred octopus, and other shareable dishes, along with a cocktail program centered on citrus, pomelo fruit, lemongrass, and regional herbs. Huynh has said he plans to serve food that honors traditional recipes while bringing his own creative touch. “I’m not going to hold back,” he told Orlando Weekly. “It’s going to be traditional, but it’s going to be my style of traditional.”
The restaurant is backed by restaurateurs Jimmy and Johnny Tung, who previously worked with Huynh on Mills Market. Pomelo marks the chef’s first full-scale restaurant in Orlando and continues the Tung brothers’ investment in developing Mills 50 into one of the city’s most dynamic dining districts.
Huynh, who has cooked at Per Se, Guy Savoy, and Morimoto Asia, brings a high-profile pedigree to the project. His involvement signals continued growth in Orlando’s food scene, where national chefs are increasingly setting up shop alongside local talent.
The Twisted Handle closed up shop in January of this year.
