Not having eaten around Chicago recently, I got to pining for Italian beef and corned beef sandwiches. I know I won't find good Italian beef anywhere else, and although there's excellent corned beef in the delis of the northeast, it's not like Chicago. What both these dishes share in their Chicago incarnation is that the meat is sliced super-thin. Where I currently live thin sliced deli meat is a bad thing. Thick-sliced corned beef, especially thick-sliced by hand, is the gold standard in New York. I love it at Katz's and the (new!) 2nd Avenue Deli, but somehow those thick, succulent flaps of spiced brisket do not scratch the itch for the nearly see-through thin corned beef more typical of Chicago. What's amazing about the Chicago version is how steamy-moist it stays, and while it lacks the oozy luxury of thick slices, it has elegance all its own.