On Sunday when we got back from Mississippi we were waiting for our luggage at Midway and Erica and I displayed the frightening trend we’ve had lately for thinking the same thing at the same time. “I was thinking we could drop my stuff off at my house and then go eat at…” “Hopleaf!” “Yeah!”

Hopleaf is right around the corner from Erica’s house so we were eating there a lot in the fall and drinking a lot of lambics (Belgian fruit beers). For a long time the Hopleaf has been known for their wide selection of beers (a half-a-jillion on tap, all served in specialized glassware) but I was always put off from visiting because the bar was a tiny, loud smoke-filled room. But fairly recently they greatly expanded the bar and added an upstairs and a smoke-free dining area in the back.

On Sunday night the front room was, as always, tiny, loud and smoke-filled. But the back room was quiet, with plenty of open tables. We decided to take a detour from our usual lambics to try one of the drinks under the “warmers” section of the menu. We got a bottle of Quelque Chose, a cherry beer from Canada that’s served warm. Tart and sweet and warming.

I usually get the ham-and-cheese sandwich, which comes with frites, but Sunday I decided to branch out on the menu and get the porkchop and Erica got the roast chicken. Neither came with frites, so we got them as a side. You have to have frites!

Erica’s chicken wasn’t perfect — a great flavor and moist, but a little tough. My porkchop, though, was great. Super thick and seared on the outside, but tender and flavorful all the way through.

Our Quelque Chose ran out just as we were getting our entrees, so we decided to try the other item in the “warmers” section: gl