'Chainsaw' joins Wm. Mulherin's Sons project in Fishtown

Chef John "Chainsaw" Taus - whose resume over the last dozen years includes Tangerine, Buddakan, Angelina, Morimoto, Washington Square, and Pod, as well as at Bliss, James, Zahav, Snackbar, the Diving Horse, Pub and Kitchen, and Il Pittore - has landed in Fishtown.

Taus will be chef at Wm. Mulherin's Sons, the "urban Italian" that is looking toward an early March opening at Front and Master Streets, in the former old-time whiskey plant whose name is carved into the facade.

He's the longtime associate of chef Chris Painter, late of Il Pittore. Painter is the executive chef overseeing not only Wm. Mulherin's Sons but other dining ventures created by Method Hospitality, an offshoot of the company that is building a series of apartment-style, extended-stay luxury hotels under the ROOST Apartment Hotel brand.

Todd Rodgers, formerly of Noble and a.Kitchen & a.Bar/ AKA, is overseeing the front of the house.

Next project, whose timeline is not set, will include a subterranean, Euro-style wine bar at the newest ROOST, which opened in January at 1831 Chestnut St. near Rittenhouse Square.

Mulherin's kitchen has a wood-fired grill as well as a wood-fired oven for pizza to be tended by Jonah Fliegelman and Nathan Winkler-Rhoades, the duo from the Pitruco pizza truck and Enjay's Pizza at Smokey Joe's in University City.

Mulherin's, not quite ready for photos, is brimming with turn-of-the-20th-century details, many original (including woodwork) but some old-fashioned and others whimsical, including a new mosaic floor tile spelling out "Winner" in the entryway on the Master Street side.