…mathematically, but perhaps not realistically.
John Donohue is on a mission that would likely take a lifetime to complete (when you factor in all the daily responsibilities that tend to get in our way). He began the journey of drawing every restaurant in the city in January, after discovering that New York City is home to 24,000 restaurants. For most that would seem like a daunting task that couldn’t possibly have an end date, but not for Donohue.
According to his mathematics, if less than 20 minutes are spent at each restaurant they can all be visited in less than one year!
While it takes him exactly 20 minutes to create each drawing, he also notes that those numbers only work if your sole purpose in life is to visit each restaurant—no sleeping, working, eating—not to mention the travel time between restaurants and the new ones opening/old ones closing each day. Clearly there are a number of factors to consider before embarking on a project of this magnitude.
Since drawing every restaurant in the city in under a year is not a realistic task, John Donohue has decided to continue this project for as long as he sees fit. He found the inspiration to begin this project from other artists developing similar works such as “Jason Polan’s Every Person in New York, and James Gulliver Hancock’s All the Buildings in New York.” Now, Donohue has introduced All the Restaurants in New York.
Here’s a look at some of the restaurants he’s shared on Instagram, although you can find all of his up-to-date work on the site dedicated to All the Restaurants.
A few of the iconic places he’s drawn, courtesy of his Facebook All the Restaurants in New York timeline:
On All the Restaurants’ website you can search restaurants he’s drawn by specific cuisines! There’s even a category for all of the ‘Closed’ restaurants he’s drawn. If you love his work and want one of your favorite NYC dining spots on your wall at home, you can shop Donohue’s art on the site as well.
Feature image source [Facebook/All the Restaurants in New York]