On a crisp, New Orleans winter day, maybe you’re thinking of that summer vacation you went on to Italy. The vibrant colors. The people. The charming piazzas you can tuck into to eat your lunch or sip on wine. But here’s one of New Orleans’ best-kept secrets: we have a piazza of our own right smack in the middle of downtown. And, even though it’s just a few steps off Poydras Street, it’s hidden from the eyes and minds of most New Orleanians.

The space is called Piazza d’Italia, and it takes up a piece of the block surrounded by Poydras Street and the Loew’s Hotel downriver, the American Italian Cultural Center and St. Peters Street on the river-side, Lafayette Street upriver, and a parking lot and Tchoupitoulas Street on the lake-side.