This is a test to determine whether Highland Park High School students read this blog. I will be serving burgers and fries today in the high school cafeteria. In my pocket will be three $25 gift certificates to Sonny Bryan’s. I will give away one of these gift certificates in each lunch period. The winners will be the first students in each period who greet me with the phrase that pays: “Bradford Pearson.”

You know what my Thursday nights could use more of? Tango dancing. The Argentinian art is sorely lacking from my social calendar. Luckily, I found a way to remedy this.

Vapiano, an Italian restaurant in Mockingbird Station, is offering a free tango lesson and dance party tomorrow evening. The  lesson is from 8:30 to 9 p.m., and the party kicks off directly after and runs to 11.

Nutrition Master

You guys want controversy? You got it.

Not really, but I was trying to spice up this post a bit. Anyway, the district released their cafeterias’ nutrition facts today, and they’re about what you expect: salads are good and fried chicken sandwiches are bad. But if people actually paid attention to these kind of numbers, Chick-fil-A would be gone, we’d all eat lettuce all the time, and general unpleasantness would settle over the earth, like a Cormac McCarthy novel.

After a pretty cursory glance over the numbers, the district’s worst food items (calorically speaking) are:

- The Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich (430 calories, 17 grams of fat)

- Chili, no beans (430 calories, 32 grams of fat)

- Mrs. Baird’s Frosted Donuts (430 calories, 28 grams of fat)

So, if your kid likes ditching his chicken sandwich bun for donuts, then dipping his chicken-donut Frankensandwich in chili, HPISD is the place for you!

(Although, in all fairness, these menus look to have plenty of healthy options, more than most districts. My high school’s entree options ranged from french fries to curly fries, with the occasional cheese fries thrown in the mix. A charmed life, until you’re a 325 pound sophomore with a glandular problem.)

Hopdoddy Burger Bar is coming to Preston Center, per Uncle Nancy. I can quickly see many New Year’s resolutions floundering, flailing, and then sinking into the abyss.

The last time I mentioned burgers on the blog, you all tore me apart, so I’m not going to say anything. Except MapleandMotorisbetterthananyParkCitiesburgerI’vehadthoughsomedokindacomeclose. Whew.

Graham Dodds keeps bees in a small Oak Cliff orchard. (File photo: Christina Barany)

We’re big fans of Graham Dodds here at People Newspapers. Our original office for Oak Cliff People was directly above the space that would become Bolsa, the Davis Street restaurant where Dodds has earned rave reviews for the past few years. I even wrote a story about the chef’s beekeeping hobby, which explains the photo you see here. So why am I mentioning this on the Park Cities People blog? Because Dodds is the new chef at Central 214 at Hotel Palomar.

Chris Canellos, Steve Canellos, University Park Mayor Dick Davis, Angelo Chantilis Jr., and Scott Vickers raise a milkshake toast in honor of the Burger House 60th anniversary. (Staff photo by Christina Barany)

I just returned from Burger House, where Bradford Pearson and I each enjoyed two burgers because A) they were 60 cents and B) in Brad’s words, “we’re growing boys.” To make us feel even worse about ourselves, we spotted University Park city manager Bob Livingston jogging on Hillcrest as we drove back to the office. Perhaps Bob was just trying to shed a few pounds before consuming a few burgers. Wish I’d thought of that. Read more about the Burger House anniversary celebration in this week’s edition of Park Cities People.

On Friday night, my family and I occupied a 12-seat table at Dunston’s, specifically in “the library,” that room to your left as you enter from Lovers. (I never laid eyes on the prestigious “back room.”) The other large party in the library was very intriguing. All of the women were in ball gowns. All of the men were in tuxedoes and medallions; each man’s medallion appeared different from the next. They had a sign-in table that featured a sword with an elaborate hilt. At some point, the men voted on something via a series of vocal “ayes” and “nays.” Meanwhile, just a few feet away from all this very official business, my sons and nieces were experiencing the emotional roller coaster that is the life of a toddler. Very surreal. I would have asked the group’s name, but none of the members looked especially open to questions from outsiders.

Burger House will always hold a special place in my heart, specifically the location on Mockingbird. That’s where my father first laid eyes on my oldest child. Sure, the place was already important to me because of that secret seasoning on the fries, but hosting the first meeting between my dad and his first-born son’s first-born son pushed it over the top.

That’s why I plan to be at the original Burger House on Hillcrest tomorrow. At 11 a.m., University Park Mayor Dick Davis will offer a milkshake toast to the beloved eatery’s 60th anniversary. If that’s not enough to entice you to stop by, maybe you’ll be lured in by the anniversary price of a cheeseburger: 60 cents.

Fans of the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives (of which I include myself) are already familiar with Guy Fieri: bombastic, bleached blond, and beer-bellied. While I think the show would be much better if, maybe, you know, Fieri let the restaurant owners talk instead of just yelling “HIIIIIIIYAHHHHHH” and “KILLER ONION RINGS, BROSEPH,” I do understand that there is a certain appeal to him.

If you fall in that camp, you should make your way to Maple and Motor on Maple Avenue tomorrow between 3 and 6 p.m. Word on the street — and Maple and Motor’s Facebook page —is that the maniacal maestro will be at the joint, filming DDD.

What this also means is that fans of Maple and Motor should head there now, before the lines become unbearable.

Those of us who have transitioned (some say evolved) from brick and mortar restaurants to the high-speed life of food trucks will say there’s nothing better than stepping up to a truck and grabbing a Korean taco or Vietnamese banh mi. The rest of you will presumably say you like “having a seat while you eat” and “not standing in the rain.”

To that I say “Humbug!”, but there’s an opportunity to change your mind. The Shops at Park Lane will host Food Truck Fridays every Friday this month, featuring a variety of trucks every week, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The trucks include: 3 Men and a Taco, Gennarino’s, Green House, Jack’s Chowhound, Ruthie’s Rolling Cafe, Ssahm BBQ, and Trailercakes. Visit The Shops at Park Lane’s Facebook page to check the weekly schedule.