Each year Bryant Park, which is located behind the main branch of the New York Public Library on 42nd Street between 5th and 6th Avenues, hosts a Winter Village. There is a big ice skating rink, a Christmas tree, a pop-up sit-down restaurant, and close to 100 tented vendor stalls where people can buy holiday gifts. It's modeled on a European market look and it draws big crowds.
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| It was 60 degrees at the skating rink |
In addition to the handmade jewelry, Christmas ornaments and children's toys, there are many food vendors. In years past, the food vendors have been scattered about, but this year they placed several new and exciting food vendors along the periphery of the village on the 40th Street side of the park.
The focus seems to be on food from all over the world- I saw KAYA Taiwanese burgers, Dulcinea Churros, Jicama California Street Food, Domo Taco, MATZAHBREI (Jewish vegetarian), Mr. Bing Beijing Street Food, Veselka Borcht Bar, and Iron Burger Bar among the dozens of new food vendors this year.
Chick'n Cone drew many visitors eager to try their take on chicken and waffles- chicken tenders tossed in one of three sauces (Carolina BBQ, Ranch and Cinnamon Maple), placed inside a waffle cone. I saw a lot of people eating those.
I wandered among them for a very long time, trying to decide before settling on La Sonrisa Empanadas, where I got a ham & queso empanada which was delicious and just the right size to allow me to try a Breads Bakery Nutella Cretzel- a pretzel shaped croissant drizzled with Nutella. They have savory and sweet cretzels to satisfy every craving.
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| Nutella Cretzel |
If you find yourself in NYC for the holidays, make sure to stop by Bryant Park and hit up the food stalls, I intend to visit there often enough to try some more delights.
