Takuma Watanabe is from Tokyo, Japan and got his start in the hospitality industry when he was 18 years old as a barista. Two years later, he got his first bartending job at Code Name Mixology in Tokyo, where he learned the basics of bartending from one of his mentors, Shuzo Nagumo. He's attended many bartender competitions, the biggest one being the World Class Competition in Japan in 2011. This is where he began to make a name for himself in the beverage industry. Shortly after, he met Shingo Gokan, the former manager at Angel’s Share who owns SG club in Tokyo and SpeakLow in Shanghai. Gokan became another mentor and convinced Takuma to move to NYC to further pursue his bartending career. Ever since then, Takuma worked at Angel’s Share as a bartender and eventually became the manager. In April 2022, he became a partner & beverage director at Martiny's, which celebrates all the skills he's perfected over the years thanks to his mentors, two extremely influential people in his bartending journey. In 2023, Martiny's won Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar at the Spirited Awards and in 2024 Martiny's was named #4 of North America's 50 Best Bars and #24 of World's 50 Best Bars. With this momentum for Martiny's, Takuma decided to take on another project, L'Americana, an Italian-inspired bar & bistro, which opened in February 2024 right around the corner from Martiny's. In July 2024, Takuma opened his 3rd project in Gramercy, Midnight Blue, a jazz bar bringing New York charm and sophistication to another level.

In 2024, Takuma won Bartender of the Year at the Spirits Business Awards and won Best Bartender in North America at the Shaker Awards. Takuma was also recognized as a semifinalist for the 2025 James Beard Awards for Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service.

Takuma’s name in Japanese is “渡邉琢磨”. The last character of his name “磨” (“migaku”) means “to polish” in English, which is exactly what Takuma has been doing over the last 15+ years in his career. Always in the pursuit of “shokunin”, a Japanese term used to describe an artisan who masters their profession, Takuma has polished his skills to embrace the “shokunin spirit” and is elated to be sharing his meticulously honed craft with the world via Martiny’s, L'Americana and Midnight Blue.