Heavensake’s Vision for the World’s Most Beautiful Omakase

Rarely do all the senses align for one meal—a culinary delight set into a carefully designed scene where texture, scent, and sound have been meticulously orchestrated. This was the vision of Carl Hirschmann, the founder and creative director of Heavensake, for a singular omakase experience to honor the release of Noguchi Prestige, his sake brand’s latest rarefied release. With liquid drawn from the archives of sake master Noguchi Naohiko, and blended by champagne legend Régis Camus, Noguchi Prestige arrives in a ceramic vessel crafted by Japan’s Arita Porcelain Lab.

“Heavensake has always been about sharing the beauty of Japanese culture with the world,” Hirschmann tells Surface. “I had a very clear idea about the design of the event. I said, ‘Look, I want to celebrate omakase culture.’ This came about because I understood the theatrical beauty of it. I knew the power of that.” He envisioned a mirrored table perched above the Mediterranean, reflecting and refracting its natural surroundings.

Hirschmann and his team realized this vision by transforming a helicopter pad outside his home in Monaco. “The mirror in the open air expresses elevation by mirroring the sky,” he says, “but then you have the mirror expressing purity by reflecting your soul. You see yourself in the depths.” He also acknowledges an innate playfulness to it. “The mirror feels like a constantly moving thing,” he adds. “You see other people, you see nature. The light changes. The reflections of the light create a bit of a dance.”

“But the table in itself was not quite interesting to me,” Hirschmann says. “The omakase experience was essential.” The Heavensake team considered many of the world’s most sought after sushi chefs. They also explored various sources for the freshest fish. Ultimately, Hirschman was tipped off to an acclaimed omakase chef who happened to be local to Monaco. “I called a few people and they connected me to him. I told him there was no space for compromise—and he was unbelievable. He understood immediately what we were going for.”

As the event unfolded among the elements, the Noguchi Prestige bottle became a centerpiece. “I was able to create an omakase dream,” Hirschmann says. “The level of creativity, the level of excellence, the level of attention to detail was all there. There were so many layers to it. One part was aesthetically simple, another was almost philosophical.”

Hirschmann himself led the bottle design. “I took inspiration from a Japanese sculptor and ceramic master named Fukami Sueharu,” he shares. “His cups changed my life. With each cup, he explores the beauty of imperfection. They have two different treatments—one is layered with glaze, the other is more raw. I wanted to share these two different sensory experiences with people.”

Hirschmann, aware of porcelain’s importance in sake culture, always dreamed of honoring heritage ceramic makers. He segued Heavensake’s luxury positioning in Japan into an opportunity to make an art-forward bottle. “We have access to all these great people that want to work with us,” he says. “We knew we needed to create something unique. And in that process, through my friends, I was lucky enough to be introduced to the Arita Porcelain Lab, and the owner of this company, Satoru Matsumoto, who is the seventh generation head of the Yazaemon Kiln.”

Within the vessel is also a first-of-its-kind for Heavensake. “It was always a dream of ours to work with Noguchi Naohiko, the man the Japanese call ‘the god of sake brewing.’ He opened up his personal archive of vintage sake to us—something he never let anybody access,” Hirschmann says. Camus, famed for his work with Piper-Heidsieck and Charles Heidsieck, then set out to develop a finessed assemblage. 

Elegant and elevated, the liquid carries citrus notes that introduce a profile of tropical fruit flavors. With a sip, one can easily understand Hirschmann’s compulsion to set it on a pedestal—amidst the world’s most beautiful omakase.