NO-ONE would accuse Rai Singh of lacking ambition or of shirking risks.

For Rai has risen from the backstreets of Birmingham to business success via the dreaming spires of Cambridge and the cosmopolitan buzz of Tel Aviv.

Sharply dressed, fast talking and fizzing with enthusiasm, Rai’s sitting in the bar of Pushkar, his ultra-stylish restaurant in Broad Street.

We’re lounging in simple but elegant chairs that were designed by Rai, a 37-year-old father of one who lives in Harborne but grew up in Handsworth.

This is Rai’s first restaurant – indeed his first involvement in the catering industry.

Open less than a month, the place is already doing brisk trade.

It’s a departure for Rai, who owns the restaurant with three partners.

He was a pupil at George Dixon secondary school in Handsworth and from there went to Cambridge to study eceonomics.

Emerging with a 2:1, he declined the overtures of accountants and finance houses that were courting graduates and instead joined a friend’s fashion business, working as a PR.

“She asked me to help out and I just thought ‘why not?’,” says Rai.

“It was a lot of fun. I did all the air kissing. But then I felt it was time for a change.”

That change involved joining a recruitment agency as a head-hunter specialising in entertainment and media industries.

Three years later, he himself was recruited by one of his clients – music channel MTV – who sent him to Israel to work as a video jockey.

“I was in Tel Aviv. It’s a fantastic city – like New York. It’s a city that never sleeps,” he says.

Afterwards, he headed back to Birmingham – briefly – before spending three years in India building the family’s luxury holiday home in the Punjab.

Then came time to realise a long-held dream – opening a place called Pushkar.

“It had been at the back of my mind for years that I’d like to open somewhere called Pushkar,” he explains.

“I didn’t know what it would be – whether it would be a club or a bar of a restaurant.

“I love the name, which means ‘born to a flower’.

“It’s so elegant and femine and fresh. It’s about rebirth. It’s classical and timeless.”

A unit became available on Broad Street and Rai and his partners put together a hurried bid – convincing the landlord to choose them over some tough and experienced opponents.

“It was our passion and enthusiasm that won it for us,” says Rai.

He has played a key role in the design of the restaurant with its striking artwork, specially commissioned chandelier, stylish furnishings, gorgeous table settings and the beautiful dresses worn by the waitresses. Not to mention an astonishing floor in the lobby which features images of goldfish swimming around.

But the kitchen is the domain of head chef Bishal Rasaily, who worked at London’s highly regarded Chutney Mary’s.

However, Rai knew what style of food he wanted – cuisine typical of his family’s Punjabi roots given a modern treatment but losing none of its authenticity.

He says: “I try to persuade people to try something different from the starter, menu, perhaps and then to try a familiar dish as a main course to see how much differently we do it.

“There are levels of flavour and texture.

“There are not thick, onion-heavy sauces and no additives or colourings.

“And I insist they try our desserts – particularly the garam masala creme brulee.

“I tell them they don’t have to pay for it if they leave it. So far, no-one has left any.”

He adds: “I trying to bring a little bit of myself to Pushkar – the fashion, the music and the food.

“It’s like a marriage, bringing all these elements together.”

As we chat over an Americano coffee, people are pouring along Broad Street – most of them slowing down to gaze into the eye-catching restaurant.

It’s not lost on Rai, who says that much of the 60-cover restaurant’s trade comes from discerning diners who are intrigued by its appearance.

Many other customers are visitors attending conferences and business meetings who, again, are attracted by its upmarket appearance.

But, he says, he was determined that the food should be every bit as good as the decor – something that seemed to me to have been achieved when I ate there recently and was delighted by the quality.

Already his mind is turning to new aims.

In this case to roll out a chain of Pushkars in buzzy cities across the country, including London.

But that’s for later.

Right now this likeable, remarkable man is concentrating his efforts on making Pushkars a success.

And who would bet against that?

* Pushkars, 245 Broad Street, Birmingham. Phone 0121 643 7978 or visit www.pushkardining.com