UPDATE: A representative from Prime + Proper confirmed the restaurant passed its final inspections and will open to the public at 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 3.

From the 20th Century dining dynasty of the original London Chop House to Michael Symon’s Roast — widely credited for kick-starting the current restaurant renaissance downtown — steakhouses loom large in Detroit culinary lore.

Names like Carl’s and Laffrey’s have been lost to the past, but when the ambitious fine-dining restaurant Prime + Proper makes its debut in Capitol Park potentially as early as Friday pending the results of a final inspection, diners will get a glimpse of the steakhouse genre’s potential future.

“I wanted an opportunity to redefine something,” says Prime + Proper proprietor and Heirloom Hospitality president Jeremy Sasson. “Carl’s Chop House, the original London Chop House, the original Lelli’s — those are places that I never got a chance to go to as a kid, but I always had this imagination of what they looked like in my head. So how do I bring that to life in my own way and make it progressive and interesting and not entirely expected?”

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That question led to what has been a nearly two-year process bringing to life Prime + Proper. Sasson, whose purview includes the two Townhouse restaurants in Birmingham and Detroit, spared no expense, scouring the country for key staffers and the entire world for the right materials.

The finished product – typified by details like mosaic Carrara marble from Italy, custom-made steak knives from Barcelona, lighting from Portugal, custom chairs from North Carolina, and Prime + Proper-branded Lenox plates – belies the $3-million price tag Sasson says he paid to get the place opened.

The fact is, it would have cost much more had the restaurateur not partnered on a millwork company, Artistry Detroit, which performed much of the interior fabrication. (McIntosh Poris Associates helped Sasson with the design, which takes cues from both Art Deco and Mid-century Modern aesthetics.)

But the most important facet of any service business is its people, and Sasson again searched far and wide for the right key staff. His first hire was Walter Apfelbaum, an executive butcher with a Culinary Institute of America pedigree. On the payroll since Jan. 1, Apfelbaum spent most of the past decade at NYY Steakhouse in Florida’s Seminole Casino and now hand cuts all the meat at Prime + Proper while also overseeing the restaurant’s sizable in-house dry-aging room. But he won’t just be hidden in the downstairs prep kitchen, instead taking the role of meat guide for diners who will interact with the butcher at his display case.

“I know a lot of chefs but not a lot know that side of the business,” Sasson says. “Walter is a meat guy. My first hire was the position most other steakhouses have gotten rid of.”

Next came Curtis Nordeen, a Detroit-area front-of-house veteran who’s spent much of his 20-year career at upscale steakhouses like the Capital Grille and Fleming’s. Along with two dining room managers, Nordeen will oversee the uniquely structured service staff. Each table will be assigned three service members: one to manage food, one to manage beverage and an assistant to help make sure things run smoothly. Because the idea is to create a climate of service where everyone wins, the front of the house will pool tips.

Sasson says he’s invested more time and money into training staff than originally budgeted and more than is typical in the local hospitality industry.

“Nobody is going on the floor here without a minimum of 125 hours of training,” he says.

That’s necessary for the level of service Sasson aims to give guests and the coordination it takes for Prime + Proper’s service style.

Executive Chef Ryan Prentiss was already working his way up the ranks at Townhouse and came to Sasson saying he wanted to run the show at Prime + Proper. But the kitchen is more collaborative than most.

“Our menu conversations don’t just include one chef and that’s it,” Sasson says. “Our tastings here have been 10-12 people deep. When something was on the money, we all knew it.”

As it stands now, the menu includes a sizable raw bar that can be best sampled in a $65-per-person plateau featuring oysters, lobster, shrimp cocktail, snow and king crab, tuna poke and accompaniments.

Caviar service includes four options ranging from smoked steelhead trout roe ($45 per ounce) to select Golden Osetra caviar ($275 per ounce), the most expensive item on a decidedly not cheap menu.

A half-dozen appetizers are mostly in the sub-$20 range and include foie gras torchon, potato agnolotti and Mediterranean octopus with hummus and pita. Five salads round out the starters and include steakhouse classics like the Caesar ($14) and wedge ($16).

At the heart of Prime + Proper’s menu, though, are the steaks, meticulously cut and displayed with pride at the glass butcher counter fronting the open kitchen. Soon, guests will be able to purchase the raw cuts of meat to take home. But for now, the restaurant’s early patrons will be able to choose from cuts ranging from the 8-ounce Creekstone Farms filet mignon ($39) to the massive 42-ounce USDA Prime porterhouse ($149), dry-aged in-house for a minimum of 28 days. For a rare delicacy, a 4-ounce cut of Miyazaki A-5 Wagyu strip is available for $95. There’ll also be special off-menu cuts available depending on what Apfelbaum has in stock.

Diners who want a little more than just meat can accessorize their steaks with items like wood-fired lobster claws ($22), foie gras “salt” ($13) and market price shaved truffles.

Another half-dozen entrees include four seafood dishes – the classic Dover sole meuniere included ($49) – a whole dry-aged duck a l’orange ($59) and a half or whole pressure-fried chicken ($23/$36). The dry-aged beef burger is topped with French onion soup onions, Beecher’s flagship cheddar, zip mayonnaise and pickled mustard seed and pushes the downtown burger price ceiling to $29.

Most everything is served a la carte, so there’s also a wide selection of vegetable-based side dishes plus sauces and butters and a whole section dedicated to different potato preparations.

“Part of the modern steakhouse piece was really layering in the culinary aspect that’s lost in most steakhouses,” Sasson says. “We really are approaching this as a fine-dining experience that has a great arsenal of steaks.”

Executive Pastry Chef Sharyn Harding, another CIA grad, was hired from the Wynn in Las Vegas. Her decadent dessert offerings include classic vanilla cheesecake, butterscotch budino and peanut butter pavé – all under $15 – but she’s also charged with making the house-made bread and pita, petit fours, ice cream and sorbet and some savory sides.

“She made us step up our game in our food program because her desserts are so damn good,” Sasson says.

On the beverage side, Sasson hired certified sommelier Liz Martinez away from the Purple Pig in Chicago to oversee Prime + Proper’s wine program.

“My list at the Purple Pig was all Old World, so there’ll be a lot of Old World wines on this list,” Martinez says. “I feel like people in Detroit are somewhat adventurous in terms of wine.”

To that end, she’ll be offering some Greek glass pours and has stocked some back vintages of the Lebanese Chateau Musar. There are about 300 labels on the opening list and almost 30 are offered by the glass thanks to a Vinfinity preservation system.

The cocktail program is headed up by New Orleans bartender Jonathan Shock and features 10 house cocktails for $14 each. There’s a take on a classic martini as well as a margarita, plus more inventive concoctions such as the Foraged Fizz, featuring truffle-infused Citadelle gin, Pedro Ximenez sherry and egg white, emblazoned with a P+P stencil of bitters.

Related: Bad Luck cocktail bar to open Thursday in Detroit

In the summer, Prime + Proper will nearly double its capacity with both bar and dining room seating extending out onto the newly expanded sidewalk overlooking Capitol Park, adding an additional 160 seats and requiring the staff of approximately 100 to grow a bit. Add in the 144 dining room seats, 20 indoor bar seats, capacity for 20 in the private dining room downstairs and space for an additional 60-70 on the rooftop patio available for private events, and you’ve got a beast of a restaurant.

For many, Prime + Proper will be a special occasion kind of place for an anniversary dinner splurge or a place to seriously impress a client. But for the moneyed few who have the pocketbook to become regulars, there will be some added perks, or “thank yous” as Sasson refers to them.

The most loyal guests will be assigned a unique hand-made steak knife made by Michigan native James Behring. They’ll also be rewarded with access to Cash Only, a subterranean bar hidden from the public in the bowels of the building. It will debut by the end of the month.

“I wanted a nice gesture that we could offer if you were a loyal guest,” Sasson says.

“I didn’t do a wine cellar where you could buy cabinets to store wine in because I didn’t want things that people could pay for.”

On the other end of the spectrum, the Prime + Proper weekday happy hour will include half-off caviar service, allowing for those with slightly less means to get a taste of luxury at a more reasonable price.

All told, Prime + Proper is one of the most ambitious restaurant projects Detroit has seen in years, and as a result, it’s already garnered the attention of national magazines including Food & Wine, Maxim and Departures.

But Sasson knows his $3-million bet on downtown’s fine-dining future is no guaranteed home run.

“I didn’t spend this kind of money on this project to make a lot of money,” Sasson says. “I did this so Detroit could have something great. I’m not saying it is great. I’m saying it’s intended to be great.”

Prime + Proper

Opens this weekend, pending final inspection.

1145 Griswold, Detroit.

313-636-3100 and primeandproperdetroit.com.

Dinner only, seven days; weekday happy hour 4-6 p.m.

Contemporary fine-dining steakhouse with wood-fire grill and modern takes on steakhouse classics; extensive raw bar and caviar service. In-house dry-aging program and on-staff executive butcher.

Approximately 144 seats in luxe, Art Deco and Mid-century-inspired dining room with black, white and cream color palette and brass highlights in full view of open kitchen. Bar area seats 20, plus 20-seat capacity in downstairs private dining room. Restaurant will double capacity with outdoor seating in summer months and private rooftop events.

Ample wine list with nearly 30 glass pours; steakhouse classics with an Old World bent. Plus modern takes on classic cocktails.

Retail meat counter and exclusive downstairs bar for loyal customers to come.

Reservations recommended.

Contact Mark Kurlyandchik: 313-222-5026 or mkurlyandc@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mkurlyandchik and Instagram: mkurlyandchik.