The menu starts with a wide range of snacks with clear Alpine ties: Bavarian pretzels with cheese for dunking schwammerlsuppe, or foraged mushroom soup with sour cream brandied bone broth with pork shanks.

“Savoie in France, all the nooks and crannies in the Austrian regions - It’s fun to let people know it’s not just sauerkraut and sausages.”

“Alpine food expands through such epic reasons,” Cairo says. Cold-climate produce like potatoes and wild foods like mushrooms and game make several appearances, as well. The cuisines of those individual countries vary, but near the Alps, certain themes emerge: Cured meats, to preserve products through long winters dairy, often milked from the Alpine breeds of cattle and turned into cheese plenty of carbs, in the form of breads, pastas, and dumplings. The Alps stretch across eight countries: France, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, and Slovenia. Alpenrausch - opening Thursday, November 16 - will explore the culinary commonalities between the Alps and the Pacific Northwest, particularly foraged produce, high-elevation wines and spirits, and hearty comfort food.

Starting this week, that Southeast Division Olympia Provisions space will fully commit to an Alpine schtick. Throughout Cairo’s history in Portland, echoes of his time in the Alps have appeared in his work: German and Austrian sausages and French salami are stalwarts within Olympia Provisions’ catalogue, and his Southeast Division restaurant, Olympia Provisions Public House, has slowly grown its menu to include a broader selection of Alpine fare, from fondue to käsepäetzle. On a rainy day, it’s so ideal for this area.” “And that fits here so well: to hunker down, to get into really delicious, comforting food. “It’s one of those regions where the food fits the climate so well,” Cairo says. There, he learned how to make sausages and charcuterie, and traveled around the broader region, falling in love with the food and drink of the Alpine countries: Melty raclette cheese, venison, ice-cold schnapps. Before he and his family started the influential, nationally celebrated charcuterie company, Olympia Provisions, Elias Cairo lived in the Swiss Alps, apprenticing for the chefs and butchers and jägermeister of the community of Wildhaus. Jägermeister - the namesake of the digestif - is the German word for “master hunter,” or a professional hunter for a village.

Buzzed drinking board game