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A distinctive addition to Bedford Avenue's thicket of middling Asian restaurants, Peter's was once a butcher shop opened in 1969 by neighborhood legend Peter Kuper. It’s now the home base of Le Cordon Bleu graduate Omri Magal, though the meat hooks on the walls and meat-locker-sized back rooms reflect the restaurant’s butcher-shop origins. The filling fare is similarly humble, if eclectic. The main event is Peter’s signature rotisserie chicken, herb-marinated and roasted on a French Rotisol machine, but there’s also a rotating selection of American comfort foods, ladled generously from orange Le Creuset pots, and the occasional nod to Magal's Israeli origins, like orzo with green beans and broccoli, borscht soup, and that ubiquitous Middle Eastern staple, beans, done countless ways. Some dishes, like the stewed greens, suffer from being overcooked to blandness, and the beef stew is also inconsistent. But the crispy-juicy kielbasa with sweet-tart sauerkraut is a perfect antidote to a blustery winter day. The crowd ebbs and flows with the arrival of the nearby L train during rush hour, so you may have to swim through a flood of local artists, disaffected trendsetters, and European and Japanese tourists one moment—and have the place to yourself half an hour later. — Michael Y. Park

1/4 rotisserie chicken plus two sides and bread, $9.50; Peter's sausage with mashed potatoes, $9.95; stewed okra with tomatoes, $3.50; macaroni and cheese, $3.50