Former Detroit Lion treats dozens of local kids to an elegant dinner at upscale steakhouse

A group of local seventh and eighth graders on Monday evening enjoyed the opportunity of an elegant meal meant to impress at an upscale downtown Detroit steakhouse.

Dressed in some of their best outfits the group of boys and girls from Tomlinson Middle School in Inkster arrived by a yellow school bus at the elegant and upscale Prime + Proper restaurant, known for its wide selection of aged steaks, in Capitol Park. The students eagerly hopped off the bus, many snapping selfies while gathering to head inside the restaurant for a sit-down, fine-dining meal.

Monday's dinner at Prime + Proper allowed the kids to experience fine dining and “a lifestyle they may not otherwise encounter,” according to a news release.

And the tab for the meal of shared appetizers, salad, filet mignon and dessert in a private dining space below the restaurant? It was all on and paid for by Andre Fluellen, a former NFL defensive tackle who played nearly all his career as a Detroit Lion.

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Filet mignon and panna cotta

During the evening, Prime + Proper's staff waited on the kids, offering shared appetizers of salmon pate, dry-aged steak tartare and heirloom tomato. Dishes that followed on the preset menu featured an individually served wedge salad and filet mignon, done medium-well, accompanied by wood-fired broccolini and pommes puree. Dessert shared by the table was passion mango tart, espresso brownie, and strawberry panna cotta.

Chris (last names were withheld), an eighth grader, called the experience "very unusual."

"Not every school is taken to a five-star restaurant in Detroit," he said. "And not everybody is determined for our education and growth as students with young minds. I feel like the mentor groups definitely can help us grow as people and chase our dreams and be the people we want to be."

Jeremiah, another eighth grader, echoed the sentiment.

'Not every school gets to have mentors'

"Not every single school gets to have mentors come to their school, to make sure they have their dreams ready for the future and know what they want to do," Jeremiah said.

Eighth grader Ta'Mya and seventh grader Jazmine said they feel good about the program, the food, the service and the restaurant overall.

"I like the program. We talk about our life, and it just helps us become a better person," Ta'mya said.

Added Jazmine: "It's fun to hang around the program. We talk about what we are going to do with our lives and how we've built into the future. I thought this was a good experience for us, especially when we get older."

Kristen Kajoian, Tomlinson Middle School principal, said this is the third year Sports World hooked them up with the mentors. The mentors, she said, relate to the kids and their stories intersect.

"I would hope that the students see a pathway to their success and what they want for themselves," Kajoian said of the program.

While an elegant dinner was on the menu for the students, so were lessons in social etiquette and encouragement to dream big and believe in themselves, with speeches led by Fluellen and other mentors.

Move your chains

For the past three years, Fluellen served as a youth mentor at the Inkster school as part of the Sports World organization’s Move Your Chains program. Three other well-known former professional athletes are also part of the mentor program. Attending and also speaking at Monday's event was Lee Rouson, a former NFL player who with the New York Giants and won two Super Bowl championships, WNBA legend Rushia Brown, and two-time Olympic gold medalist Ruthie Bolton.

Each month throughout the school year, the athletes visit Tomlinson Middle School providing students with personal life experience and guiding them to make positive choices.

Fluellen calls the students "young kings and queens,” with the event all about the experience.

"They've had experiences at restaurants, but they've never had an experience with fine dining," he said.

Fluellen recalls a story when he was a kid when his father drove him around to the nicest parts of Atlanta, Georgia, looking at million-dollar houses.

"He used to say, 'This is how you're going to live son ... this is how you're going to live when you grow up. And so, this is how I live now," Fluellen said.

Fluellen said he's "trying to do the exact same thing for these young ones."

The goal, he said, is for the kids to have and be ready for more and more of these experiences.

"We could go to any restaurant. It would have been fun, we would have had a great time," Fluellen said. "But it may not have been an experience that is life-changing like this."

Brown said this is the type of event that exposes kids to the mindset of success.

"We want to expose them to different things, give them vision and an opportunity to be empowered and learn what it looks like to be successful," Brown said. "Being the role models and helping them see what it looks like is beneficial to them."

Brown also added the evening was important because "the guys do an amazing job with the young gentlemen but tonight we get a chance for our young ladies to interact with them in a very social setting and understanding how they should interact with them, along with promoting positivity and encouragement and empowerment."

The mentorship program, Bolton added, is built on providing kids with tools needed in life.

Through its mentorship programs, Sports World has impacted and inspired more than 20 million young people in the U.S. and internationally.

“Students often lack self-esteem and face tremendous peer pressure, which may cause them to choose drugs, alcohol or even suicide,” its website says.

The Tomlinson students in the program receive a certificate of achievement for completion of the mentorship course and the dinner experience at Prime + Proper.

“The focus and goal of this dinner is to show our young students that this life and lifestyle are attainable,” said Fluellen, “and success is always within their reach!”

Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news and tips to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter. Subscribe to the Free Press.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Former Detroit Lion treats kids to a steak dinner at Prime + Proper