Credit: RMS
After nearly a year-long build-out, Domo Yakitori & Sushi will officially open this Friday inside the Market Hall (3401 Tuttle Rd.) at Van Aken District. The sleek shop is run by Carmen Paponetti, who also owns the Cabin of Willowick. Before purchasing that historic property, the chef spent years perfecting his sushi-making skills while working for Zack Bruell.

At Domo, Paponetti will be offering made-to-order sushi, yakitori and okonomiyaki, the popular Japanese street food consisting of savory pancakes filled and topped with any number of ingredients.

Credit: RMS
Yakitori items include skewered-and-grilled items like chicken thighs, wings, breasts, meatballs and “oysters” served over soba noodle salad, sushi rice or cabbage slaw. Other protein choices range from pork belly to duck meatballs. Vegetarian options include mushroom, tofu and shishito peppers.

Fish is available as sashimi, nigiri and colorful, creative sushi rolls. The Dragon Roll is filled with shrimp and topped with avocado, crab salad and tobiko. The Spider Roll stars tempura-fried soft shell crab, avocado, cucumber, tobiko and eel sauce. More straightforward concoctions like California rolls, spicy tuna rolls and eel and avocado rolls also are on the menu.

As for the okonomiyaki — savory cabbage pancakes — diners start with a base model with bacon, egg, noodles, spicy mayo, okonomiyaki sauce and bonito flakes, but can add extras like octopus, shrimp, smoked salmon and shitakes.

This article appears in Jul 15-21, 2020.

For 25 years, Douglas Trattner has worked as a full-time freelance writer, editor and author. His work as co-author on Michael Symon's cookbooks have earned him four New York Times Best-Selling Author honors, while his longstanding role as Scene dining editor has garnered awards of its own.