Last week, I attended a super fun event with about 12 food bloggers. ‘The Artful Gourmet’, Kristen Hess, hosted us at the Citizen M hotel in Times Square for a “Dine in the Dark” event.

Kristen is not only a WILD AND FUN hostess, but a talented food writer, chef, food stylist and photographer. She had us tasting endive leaves filled with blue cheese, apple and walnut salad, manchego and fig jam tarts, sesame sriracha chicken bites and strawberry coconut rum shooters.

We had to guess all of these things blind, so being professional foodies, we thought we would get everything right. We actually sucked. There was always at least one ingredient we failed to acknowledge. I like to think it was because I had a cold coming on…

Later, we got to hang out, listen to some of Kristen’s industry tips and tricks, and experience the hotel. We went to the rooftop and sampled some specialty cocktails.

The Citizen M Hotel itself is awesome – my kind of place. It’s in the “budget luxury” category, so while rooms start at $159 in the heart of Times Square (a rare deal), it looks and feels like you’re at this ultra modern, luxurious hotel. We heard that there will be a new Citizen M in the Bowery next year, so more locations to choose from.

Check out some of the embarrassing pics of me, and beautiful shots of the hotel during this awesome event:

Check out @artfulgourmet on Twitter for some drool-worthy recipes and foodie knowledge.