Last night, I was invited to attend a media reception organized to celebrate the opening of The Holiday Shops at Bryant Park.

Every holiday season, Bryant Park is transformed into a vibrant hubbub of activity. This tree-lined space comes alive with twinkling lights, a skating rink and unique vendor booths. This holiday fair features more than 120 artisans and merchants selling one-of-a-kind merchandise that promises to make for exciting holiday gifts.

I want to give a big shout out to the wonderful organizers of this event. Thank you Janine Just from the Blaq Group and Frank Diprisco , Krisanne Alcantara and Lauren Rodrigue from Upsilon Ventures.

The event was held at ° Celsius which is a glass encased café built overlooking the entire park. The goal was to highlight the food vendors at The Holiday Shops.

There are really interesting food kiosks tucked away in every nook and cranny of this market. Some of my personal favorites were Wafels and Dinges (of course) for their amazing Belgian wafels. Try their “throw down wafel” – it’s amazing. I also really liked the hot dogs at Diggity Diggity Dog – try the Nacho Cheese Dog or the California Dog – its like a California roll except it’s a hot dog – yum!

You must try the enefes at Mmm Enfes or a super spicy pickle at Pickle Me Pete. You can then wash it down with a spot of hot chocolate from Max Brenner’s or some cider at Sophie’s or the Big Apple Cider.

As you shop away at this wonderful venue, there are plenty of cool foodie pit stops you can make, to provide yourself with little pick me ups along the way.

Here are some of the spots we checked out: