Putting down the phone at dinner and asking your dad a real question is a risk. He might actually answer.

A phone at the table is a mutual exit, and both sides use it. It keeps the evening safe and low effort, and nobody has to risk a conversation that might go somewhere unplanned. A real question removes that exit for both of you, which is why it feels like a risk: you cannot control where his answer goes, and you might end up somewhere neither of you has a script for.

Ask something you genuinely do not know. What he was like at your age, what he was frightened of, what he nearly did instead. Then let the answer run long.