Photo: Jason Miller
Who: Carmen Paponetti, owner of Domo Yakitori & Sushi
Residence: Sussex neighborhood
Business: Domo Yakitori & Sushi is a 20-seat restaurant in the Van Aken District Market Hall. All of our food is made to order, so you can watch our cooks make it on the spot. In addition to both vegetarian and non-vegetarian sushi rolls, we also offer yakitori and okonomiyaki.
Yakitori is grilled food on a wooden skewer, usually with different cuts of chicken like the breast or thigh, but it is also offered with pork belly, quail eggs, or vegan offerings like shiitake mushrooms, leeks, or shishito peppers. We serve it with sushi rice and a cabbage slaw.
Our okonomiyaki is an award-winning dish [rated best of Cleveland in Cleveland Magazine]. We make it Hiroshima Style, which means it is layered with pork belly, yaki-soba noodles, cabbage, a savory pancake, a savory sauce, spicy mayonnaise, scallions, and bonito flakes.
Mission: We want to make the best food in the most responsible way. We choose sustainably sourced seafood, humanely raised chickens, and environmentally friendly packaging.
What I Love About My Work: I love seeing a first-time customer come back the next day and order the same thing they got yesterday. The best is when I remember their name or face and what they ordered.
Personal Background: I was born in Collinwood and grew up on the East Side. I graduated from Mentor High School, earned a bachelor’s in business management from Dyke College, and was valedictorian from Le Cordon Bleu Pennsylvania Culinary Institute. I got my culinary start in Cleveland working for Zack Bruell at Parallax in Tremont. More recently, I was the owner of Cabin of Willowick, which closed after a 76-year run—we didn’t survive the pandemic. However, we’re getting ready to re-open the space as a new concept, so I’m spending a lot of time there right now.
My son Jonah goes to Shaker Middle School where he plays for the baseball team, and he also plays the piano, guitar, and viola. My daughter Lilly goes to Woodbury and she plays the piano, cello, and drums. Lilly likes to bake and Jonah makes amazing peach crepes. We all love Cleveland baseball.
On Working and Living in Shaker Heights: One thing I love about working in Shaker is how many chefs are connected here. Zack Bruell lived in Shaker. Then I found out Doug Katz (owner of several local restaurants, including the former fire food and drink at Shaker Square) and Brandon Chrostowski (owner of Edwins Leadership Institute at Shaker Square) also both used to work for Zack, though not at the same restaurant. I think it’s amazing that we all worked for the same person from Shaker and ended up opening places in or near Shaker.
I also love the baseball community here. We have made so many friends watching our children play baseball in the Shaker Youth Baseball League. My son and I really like to get burritos from Cilantro Taqueria, and my daughter loves to spend time at Around the Table Yarns.
Contact: domoyakitori.com or Instagram @domo.yaki.
