Popular chef Adam Stokes has set his sights on a second Michelin star after work started on his new restaurant.
A seven-figure investment is and Mr Stokes said he saw it as an investment for decades to come.
He has been working with designers from Heterarchy to transform three floors of the locally listed New Oxford House (below) office building into a 35-cover restaurant, bar, kitchen, chef's table and private function room.
He hopes the move from the current Adam's, on Bennetts Hill, will be completed before Christmas – and expects it to drive the restaurant on to further success.
He said: "We are pushing as hard as we can but, sure, I would like to see two stars.
"I am expecting to push on with this restaurant and take it as far as we can. I have held four rosettes in Scotland I expect to be back there. We have been talking to AA and Michelin."
Adam's won its Michelin star, not to mention three AA rosettes, while at its "pop up" base on Bennetts Hill but the art deco New Oxford House will be its permanent home.
However, Mr Stokes said he wanted to keep the best of the current restaurant and as a result the dining area has been kept to a trim total of 35 covers.
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It is with one star – but would become the first to achieve two.
"It is going to be amazing," Mr Stokes added. "I don't know of any other facility in Birmingham like this. There might be restaurants in London like it but Birmingham has never seen anything like it. It will be a show-stopper."
He added: "One of the things we have learned is people like the intimacy of being in a smaller restaurant. But we will have a bar area, so people can have a drink and feel comfortable. That is something we have lacked in Adam's so far.
"Then there is the private dining room. We have been surprised by the demand for private parties, so that will be for 14 people.
"Then there will be a beautiful kitchen in black stainless steel and granite and a chef's table. There are a few chef's tables in town at the moment but nothing like this."
Adam's had been linked with setting up a restaurant at The Grand in Colmore Row but this move now puts that to bed. Mr Stokes admitted it had been on the cards.
He said: "Originally, we were going to The Grand but unfortunately that never materialised."
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He added: "We have a very good relationship with Hortons and there have been discussions over the years about The Grand. However, we have come to a mutual decision that it wasn't to be. It is a shame but we have moved forward."
Mr Stokes said he and wife Natasha had scoured Birmingham for the right premises before finding New Oxford House.
He said it was not the easiest choice – turning an insurance company's office into an exclusive restaurant - but it was the right building at the heart of civic Birmingham. And starting from scratch is nothing new to the pair - the old restaurant in Bennetts Hill did not have a kitchen when they began.
He said: "We looked at lots of other restaurants, there was one on the corner of Bennetts Hill and Waterloo Street, but often you were spending a lot of money clearing up someone else's mess. We are starting from scratch with a blank canvas.
"Our level of investment has been very high. We are not messing around – we are taking it back to the walls and making sure everything we create has real foundation behind it.
"We have professional designers and the absolute best equipment - we are creating something that will last 20 or 30 years."