Uncle Peter’s

The outer boroughs are dotted with traditional, white-tableclothed Italian restaurants commanding citywide followings. Uncle Peter’s belongs on that short list. His real name is Ernesto, and he’s Italian by way of Argentina. So you can expect trattoria classics like tender seafood salad alla venezia and velvety scaloppine finished in marsala, but there’s also Latin jazz overhead and chimichurri garnishing your hefty, gaucho-style steak—and, if you’re lucky, a taste of the table-hoppingowner’s prized Malbec grappa.