George Motz is an Emmy award-winning filmmaker, author and television host. For the past 12 years, Mr. Motz, who is sometimes referred to as “America’s hamburger expert,” has also been the director of the Food Film Festival, a four-day multisensory event during which participants eat the same food they’re watching on the big screen. This year the festival will take place Oct. 24-28 at locations like the Angel Orensanz Foundation and the AMC Empire 25 in Times Square. Mr. Motz also teaches cooking classes in his backyard and travels the globe offering hamburger workshops. For the past two years Mr. Motz, 50, has lived in a three-bedroom, duplex townhouse in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn. Recently divorced, he shares his home 50 percent of the time with his two children: Ruby, 14; and Mac, 11.
SIX-HOUR SLEEP I try to sleep until 7:30 a.m. I only sleep for six hours. It’s very bizarre. I wake up naturally; the opposite of my kids who would sleep for three days straight if I let them. Then I make my bed; it’s your first achievement of the day.
The “best way” to make coffee.CreditRyan Christopher Jones for The New York Times
THE COFFEE PROCESS I grind drip and make a single cup cone. In the coffee world it’s called “pour over.” It’s the best way to make coffee. Then I check Instagram and email for the next hour.
Mr. Motz rides his “prize possession,” a 25-year-old mountain bike.CreditRyan Christopher Jones for The New York Times
PRIZE POSSESSION I leave the kids sleeping and bike for the next 30 to 40 minutes. I have a blue Raleigh mountain bike that’s 25 years old. I bought it when I had no money. It’s a prize possession. I’m a block away from Prospect Park so I might do two laps there, or I’ll go around the hood.
Smoothie break.CreditRyan Christopher Jones for The New York Times
MORE THAN BURGERS I make a smoothie. I use Superfood powder, almond milk, frozen bananas, and blueberries. It’s guaranteed health food. I eat for a living. It’s a privilege; not a right, so I have to take care of my body.
INSTAGRAM READY At 10:30 I wake my children. It’s not easy. I know when they’re up because I can see them posting. Sometimes I text them to come in for breakfast, or I lure them with the smell of bacon. My goal is to get them out of their rooms.
“We spin a globe and where our finger lands, that’s the country’s cuisine we go to in New York.”CreditRyan Christopher Jones for The New York Times
NERD OUT At 11 a.m. I make breakfast and nerd out with “Meet The Press.” Several years ago we started a game called Eat The World NYC. We spin a globe and where our finger lands, that’s the country’s cuisine we go to in New York. Our goal is try every country in the world; so far we got through 10. Then we research on the laptop where to find that food.
TRIP PREP We get showered and dressed. We have two full bathrooms so we split up; guys upstairs and Ruby’s downstairs. By 1 we’re in my Toyota Highlander. The drive can take 30 to 45 minutes because all of the interesting foods are deep in Brooklyn or Queens.
The finger landed on Mexico, so the family went to Tacombi, in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.CreditRyan Christopher Jones for The New York Times
TEACHING MEAL By 1:30 or 2:00 we’re at the restaurant. We always try that country’s signature dish. Feijoada from the Brazilian place; dim sum when we did China. I purposely make my kids find a fact about the country and how the food is made. It’s a teaching meal.
ALONE TIME We’re back on the road by 3ish. Once home we split up. They have limited iPad time during the week, so my daughter does a group FaceTime chat with her friends — there’s value in being social, and my son is a gamer, Minecraft or Fortnite.
Mr. Motz has a particular way of making to-do lists.CreditRyan Christopher Jones for The New York Times
LIST THERAPY I spend an hour or more making lists on the computer. The act of typing helps me remember what I have to do: change light bulb, call Debbie, get a haircut … It’s cathartic and relaxing. Then I print them out and tape the pages together so that it ends up looking like Santa’s list.
BIG FAMILY VIBE Some Sundays we have dinner with our friends, the Goldfarbs. Their two children are the exact same ages as mine. We recreate a big family vibe over something as basic as roast chicken. Or I’ll cook in the backyard and make my signature fried onion burgers.
BEDTIMES My son’s in bed early. Right now he’s reading “The Hardy Boys.” My daughter is the opposite; she isn’t in bed until 10:30 or 11. I’m trying to teach responsibility. She sets her own alarm now. It’s a challenge.
CALL MOM I talk to my mom every day. We can spend 30-minutes to an hour on the phone. She had me at 21 so we are very close in age now. She’s good at giving great advice.
I’ve been working on “Dancing Queen.”CreditRyan Christopher Jones for The New York Times
PLAYLIST From 11:30 to 12:30 I play the guitar. I have 15 in various stages. Last Christmas, I bought a 1977 Gibson ES-335. I’ve wanted that guitar my whole life and finally got one at auction. I try to pick up a new song every week. I grew up on punk. I play the Pixies, David Bowie, the Who, and Yo La Tango. I’ve been working on “Dancing Queen.”
FLOAT AWAY I have this great capacity to fall asleep instantly, and I have the world’s most comfortable bed. It’s like being on a cloud.
