Wilfie & Nell Team Taking Over Massive Former Oliver’s City Tavern Space in West Village

The people behind trendy bars-with-good-food Wilfie & Nell, The Wren, and The Penrose will soon be making their mark on one of the West Village’s biggest bar spaces. The Bua Bar Group, which runs six bars city-wide, has taken over the former Oliver’s City Tavern space at 190 West Fourth St. for a new bar with former Ai Fiori chef PJ Calapa. The space has been empty since Oliver’s closed in 2014, and the team expects to debut their bar, The Spaniard, in the fall.

The new bar is "in the spirit of timeless New York taverns," the group says in a statement. The menu will be inspired by "great New York institutions like P.J. Clarke’s," the team says. Potential menu items include steak tartare cut to order and oysters Rockefeller, topped with creamed spinach and lardons. Cocktails will be takes on classics, including a Gibson using Calapa's own pickled onion brine.

The Bua Bar Group has become known for running bars that serve food that’s better than typical pub fare. Their Irish gastropub The Penrose is one of the hipper destinations on the Upper East Side, and Wilfie & Nell has long been a West Village favorite. The Spaniard will be the team's seventh bar.