Fumaré Meats

Chicago French Market, 131 N. Clinton St., 312-930-4220
In Chicago, corned beef is the name of the lunchmeat game, so much so that a good pastrami sandwich can be an afterthought. But the standing-room-only Fumaré Meats knocks out a pastrami sandwich ($9) that will stop even the fiercest corned beef partisans in their tracks. The meat is smoked, peppered, and slow-cooked onsite, Montreal-style, by the husband-and-wife team of Dick and Joan McCracken. The result is a two-inch-thick pile of fatty, flavorful meat that needs nothing more than rye-bread bookends to seal the delicious deal.