Be’wiched

** THIS RESTAURANT IS PERMANENTLY CLOSED **

Pastrami, cured in-house, stars at Be’wiched. It is gentle-tempered meat, just a little bit smoky and just-right spicy, cut into chunks as the foundation of pastrami hash that also includes roasted hot and sweet peppers and sauteed potatoes. It also is the basis of a formidable breakfast sandwich known as P&E (pastrami and eggs) that includes roasted peppers and harissa in a fresh foccacia roll.

At lunch, the house-special pastrami sandwich includes pickled cabbage and coarse mustard (on rye, of course). While the standard sandwich contains plenty of meat, it’s also possible to pay 50% extra and get twice as much pastrami, making for a meal that is circus-sized. On the side of the pastrami sandwich (or of any of the several lunchtime sandwiches) comes a ramekin of house-made pickles that are dilly, garlicky, and slightly peppery. Dinner, which I’ve yet to try, features hamburgers made from beef raised on a flax seed diet, which the menu promises is “much healthier & more delicious than the national average due to exceptional animal housing and welfare.”

Located in the gentrified warehouse district known as the North Loop, Be’wiched is a fashionable urban bistro that hosts a Monday to Friday happy hour from 2:30 to 6:30, when snacks include truffle butter popcorn, pastrami-cheese stiletto sticks, smoked cashews with harissa salt, and a grilled artichoke quesadilla.