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QuickTake:
Corey Wisun, the chef who formerly ran the kitchen at Falling Sky and who later opened Membrillo, has turned to Middle Eastern Mediterranean cuisine for his latest eatery in Springfield
Shalosh, inside the food hall of PublicHouse in Springfield, represents the latest venture for long-time Eugene restaurateur Corey Wisun, who has cooked his way from Miami, where he was born and raised, to Eugene, Bend and Peru.
The move indoors, which happened in May after two years in the food court outside, allows Wisun to continue his approach to Middle Eastern cuisine, which emphasizes marinated vegetables, house-made spice blends and fresh herbs on every dish.
A ‘third’ act
The restaurant’s name, Shalosh — pronounced shuh-lowsh with a long “o” sound as in “rose” — means “three” in Hebrew. The name seemed like a fitting choice for what the chef describes as his third major culinary venture in the Eugene-Springfield area, following Falling Sky Brewing and Membrillo. The concept emerged in 2022 when former customers began reaching out to Wisun for catering services, inspiring him to return to professional cooking after a brief hiatus from the industry.
“I felt that Latin food had run its course for me,” Wisun said. “It felt natural to go to my Jewish roots for Middle Eastern Mediterranean food, and also it felt like something that was lacking here. I can’t just do a concept or create a concept, just for the sake of doing it. I have to connect to something.”
Wisun, who is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent with ancestry from Poland, Germany and Russia, calls his food Eastern Mediterranean or Levantine, to represent the broader influences of the region. The Levant, generally, includes the countries of Syria, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon and Palestine.
Corey Wisun, chef and owner of Shalosh adds seasoning to the hummus and vegetables on a chicken shishlik plate. Credit: Vanessa Salvia / Lookout Eugene-Springfield 
The chicken shishlik plate provides layers of flavor from seasoned rice, a fresh vegetable salad, three sauces, fresh herbs and seasoning blends on every component. Credit: Vanessa Salvia / Lookout Eugene-Springfield
Scratch-made philosophy
Wisun’s food is fresh and colorful, with scratch-made sauces such as Lebanese whipped garlic sauce called toum and zippy schug, made with green herbs and a kick from chiles, and sides such as creamy hummus and onions pickled with citrusy sumac.
The restaurant’s small but popular menu centers on three proteins: chicken shishlik, smoked pulled lamb shoulder and falafel.
“Shishlik is the Israeli word for kebab,” Wisun said. “We use thigh meat that we cut up and marinate in shawarma spices and then put on a skewer.”
The lamb is smoked onsite in collaboration with Black Market BBQ, the barbecue vendor next door to Shalosh’s prior outdoor spot. After smoking for four hours, Wisun wraps the lamb in foil and pops it in the oven for a few more hours. Wisun heats the meat up on the flattop grill for each order, creating a texture he describes as crispy and moist, similar to a carnitas.
“It kind of mimics real shawarma on the spit,” Wisun said.
Falafel offers a vegetarian alternative with seasoned chickpea fritters that are fried until golden. Diners can choose any of the three in the form of a wrap ($12-$16) in a lavash flatbread with pickled onions and cabbage, tehina (the same product as tahini, made from ground sesame seeds) and yogurt and schug sauce, or as a plate ($14-$17).
The plate comes with turmeric basmati rice, hummus, a chopped side salad of cucumber and tomato, pickled cabbage, sumac onions, tehina, yogurt, shug and a pita. Diners can add sheep’s feta to any order, or add fries topped with za’atar seasoning and toum garlic sauce for dipping to any order. It’s also possible to get just a lamb or chicken kebab, served with the sauces and pickled items on the side ($9-$10).
The menu also has a section called “Salatims,” the Hebrew word for salads or appetizers. All salatims, including hummus, baba ghanoush (a creamy eggplant dip), labneh (thick yogurt), and chopped salad, are $8 and come with pita.
Prepped falafel balls await cooking at Shalosh. Credit: Vanessa Salvia / Lookout Eugene-Springfield 
Corey Wisun, chef owner of Shalosh, places a chicken skewer on the grill. Credit: Vanessa Salvia / Lookout Eugene-Springfield 
Cookbooks representing the cuisine of the broad Levantine region sit on the counter at Shalosh. Credit: Vanessa Salvia / Lookout Eugene-Springfield
Wisun said he frequently receives praise for his hummus, which he says is made from “super simple” ingredients but requires an understanding of technique to get the texture and consistency right.
“Our hummus is really great,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of people traveling through here that live in Israel or have been in the Middle East somewhere who have told me my hummus rivals what they’ve had out there.”
Despite operating in a casual food hall setting, Shalosh maintains Wisun’s commitment to scratch-made preparations.
“That’s my integrity,” Wisun said.
A culinary journey
Wisun’s path to Eugene began unexpectedly when he met the future founders of Eugene Magazine at a Widespread Panic concert while he was living in Bend. After returning to Florida to attend culinary school, he moved to Eugene in 2007 to handle sales and marketing for the new publication, while establishing himself in the local food scene.
His restaurant career launched in 2009 with Field to Table, a food cart featuring daily chalkboard menus based on what was fresh that day. He then opened Falling Sky Brewing’s kitchen in 2011, offering a Jewish point of view such as piled-high pastrami Reubens.
After two years at Falling Sky, Wisun opened Membrillo, a Cuban-focused restaurant, in the spot that is now Jazzy Sammies. Wisun relocated to Willamette Street, where Bar Purlieu is now. Wisun calls the second location “big Membrillo.”
“Cuban food was very familiar to me because of my south Florida roots,” he said. “And the more I got into doing Latin food, I just kept exploring, I kept playing, I kept wanting to learn.”
That exploration led Wisun to take extended trips to Peru. After spending a month there in early 2017, he closed Membrillo for two weeks and reopened with a Peruvian focus. Big Membrillo closed in December 2017, briefly becoming Wasi Peruvian BBQ.
Wisun has also had a hand in other Eugene food menus such as Coffee Plant Roaster and the restaurant of Sessions Music Hall, where Olsen Run Comedy Club is now.
Before launching Shalosh, the chef tested the concept through pop-ups at local venues including Civic Winery, Wildcraft Cider and Capitello Winery, with positive responses.
Food without borders
Wisun emphasizes that the cuisine he crafts at Shalosh transcends political and cultural boundaries.
“This is not Jewish food, per se,” he said. “It’s Middle Eastern food. I call it food without borders. These are foods that all the countries, all the ethnicities, share.”
Wisun recalls a meaningful encounter with a Palestinian customer who initially asked Wisun about the restaurant’s origins. After learning about Wisun’s background and what he was trying to achieve, the two shook hands in a moment Wisun describes as “beautiful.”
“Despite what’s going on politically, all the countries, all the ethnicities sharing that area,” he said, “we can still break bread, we can still eat food together.”
Want to go?
Shalosh
Indoors at PublicHouse
418 A St., Springfield
Monday through Thursday: 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Friday through Sunday: 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
