The Shops at Columbus Circle have something for everyone

The Shops at Columbus Circle is a shopping destination located on the southwest corner of Central Park in Manhattan, which got its name from its location on Columbus Circle. The destination has four floors and many stores. When we say many stores we mean it.

We visited five places to find out if they are any good for kids. Were they ever! We stopped at Williams-Sonoma, Sugarfina, Devialet, and Bluebird London and Landmarc restaurants. The fourth floor has a fancy décor to it. It looks like it's a first-class area for the rich and famous. We had so much fun exploring some of the shops and restaurants.

We went to Williams-Sonoma first. It is a kitchen and home store with a variety of cookware, utensils and small appliances. We were greeted by Annie Di Giovanna who showed us how to make two recipes in the store’s kitchen. They hold cooking classes all the time. Our first recipe was Chocolate Palmiers. The ingredients we used were puff pastry and Nutella. First, we rolled out the pastry dough to make a rectangle. Then we spread Nutella on it. Once that was done, we rolled up the dough from both sides to the middle. Then we wrapped it with plastic and put it in the fridge to chill.

While the dough chilled we made apple turnovers. Annie cut the apples beforehand so we just added in the sugar, flour and cinnamon. We put a little spoonful of that mixture into the dough squares we rolled out. We pulled the corners together to seal the dough into a triangle. Before baking the turnovers we brushed the dough with melted butter, sugar and cinnamon. While those baked, we cut the chocolate palmier dough into a cute elephant ear shape. While they baked we were off to another adventure. We went to Williams-Sonoma before we left The Shops at Columbus Circle and picked up our gift boxes of our baked goods to take home.

The next place we went to was Bluebird London, a restaurant which features an afternoon tea, and in our case, a "Tiny Tea." Bluebird has a calm and soothing feeling to it. The tea that we were served was peppermint, camomile and Earl Grey. We had varieties of food that we could choose from. They served the food on a three-tiered plate and we each got our own. On the bottom plate we had finger sandwiches. The delicious sandwiches included a cheese sandwich, ham and cheese sandwich, and a butter and jam sandwich. We liked the ham and cheese the best.

On the middle plate we had scones, whipped cream and jam. We loved putting the jam and whipped cream on the scones. For dessert, we had a fluffy, sugary doughnut, small cupcake with sprinkles, a fruit kebab and a tube of chocolate sauce on the side. You could drizzle the chocolate sauce on anything. To top all of that off, we had a strawberry milkshake. To make it extra special, they dipped the rim of the glass into chocolate and then into sprinkles. It was so creamy it was like drinking a cloud with strawberries.

Bluebird is not just for kids. Adults can also enjoy a relaxing breakfast, lunch, dinner, or just desserts! If you are anywhere near Columbus Circle and are looking for a good meal, we would highly recommend going to Bluebird.

Do you know what Sugarfina is? It is a delicious luxury candy boutique. Sugarfina was created because the owners saw “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” They were inspired to create a candy store to give adults what Bill, the candy store owner, gave to kids. One of the candies that we liked from Sugarfina was the blue whales. The blue whales are gummies that have blue raspberry in them. But wait! That isn’t the only candy there that is delicious. There are sour rainbows, green apple frogs and peach hearts. Those are just a few of their wide selection. Did you think they didn’t have any chocolate? Well you’re wrong! It’s a candy store, so chocolate has to be included. Sugarfina has Hello Kitty chocolate bars including milk chocolate, pink chocolate and Gudetama egg gummy chocolate bar.

The owners are helping to support the Step Up Foundation, which.helps girls and women to gain a good path to the future. To help support the Step Up Foundation, they are selling Barbie Candy Cubes and donating 100 percent of the proceeds. As an added bonus, if you buy three Candy Cubes candy and a bento box to store them in, you will get three Candy Cubes from the Barbie collection for free. A good deal! Sugarfina is located at the main entrance of The Shops at Columbus Circle.

We took the escalator up to the third floor to our next stop, Devialet. This is a high-end speaker store. The store was a square box made of glass. We all went inside and sat down while they welcomed us. There were a couple of speakers set up on white pedestals and others on the shelf opposite us. The speaker on the middle pedestal began blasting music. Earlier in the week we had chosen our favorite songs for them to play. The Phantom Reactor was the speaker that was playing our songs.   It was really loud, and lots of fun!

We were all very surprised that the speakers didn’t break the glass store into pieces. Of course, our signature dance move was the Chicken Dance. When the speakers played music the sides of it started to vibrate like crazy. All you could hear from outside the store was vibrating sounds from the music inside the store! It was a fun experience. If you need a speaker, make sure you try Devialet.

Lastly, we went to the restaurant Landmarc. We met the service manager Dena  who told us that this was the second Landmarc restaurant in Manhattan. This one opened in April 2007. The first Landmarc that opened was in TriBeCa in April 2004. Dena mentioned that the owner and chef Marc Murphy made this Landmarc for adults and kids. She also said that many celebrities go there, like Anderson Cooper and Leonardo DiCaprio.

We sat in a big oval table and when we looked out the window we had a beautiful view. We all got Shirley Temples and cotton candy. The Shirley Temples were effervescent. They were amazing and tasted so good. The cotton candy was sweet and delicious too. We were lucky to have Dena join us for a while. She said her favorites were the chicken fingers and cheeseburgers. We saw someone getting a nice juicy steak. Maybe we’ll come back and try it.

As you can see we had a fun-filled day. We met lots of wonderful people who showed us a great time. If you’re in Manhattan, we suggest you visit Columbus Circle. Before you go, plan your trip: theshopsatcolumbuscircle.com/