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When Harley Langberg, 38, visits the grocery store, he doesn’t carry around a shopping list.
Instead, he’s in the aisles studying photos on his phone of Jalen Brunson, the NYC skyline and the FIFA World Cup trophy to find vegetables with the right colors and textures to recreate edible versions of the visuals.
Hustling during the day at his family’s investment firm, the 38-year-old scratches his creative itch in the wee hours of the morning, chopping veggies and carefully arranging them into stunning pieces of art for stunned customers.
A hobby turned quirky side hustle, Langberg creates food art, turning the “edible into the unforgettable.”
The Manhattanite, who developed a love for both cooking and art at an early age, has over 40,000 Instagram followers and counting, and is regularly commissioned to create personalized pieces for both customers and massive brands, such as Billboard, Dylan’s Candy Bar and MTV.
The inspiration for Langberg’s craft stemmed from a food-art exhibit he stumbled upon in Chelsea Market 12 years ago.
“I thought it was such a cool combination of both my interests that I wanted to give it a shot,” the NYC-native told The Post. “That same day, I grabbed eggplants, peppers, rosemary and made my first piece modeling Banksy’s flower thrower.”
Langberg might not consider himself a “true artist,” but his work says otherwise.
Take his latest portrait of Knicks MVP Jalen Brunson. He crafted it using mashed potatoes, turnips, peppers, and eggplant.
His Ed Sheeran work was made from waffles and pasta, and his Bad Bunny piece was created using mashed potatoes, tortillas and turnips.
The food guru told The Post that 90 percent of his creations are for brand partnerships and 10 percent are for print sales.
If a customer requests a specific creation through his website, he will make the piece, photograph it and send prints to the customer, charging anywhere from $70-100, depending on whether it’s custom or not.
Being a pop culture fanatic, recreating portraits of A-listers using food has become Langberg’s niche.
“Not to sound morbid, but usually when someone dies, I’m in the kitchen the day after making their portrait as a tribute piece. I like to be right on top of everything,” he told The Post. “And of course, with the Knicks and the World Cup, I always try to bring events like that into my world.”
His first celebrity recreation was of model Tyra Banks, who reposted his work and soon after followed Langberg on Instagram. “To me, those are signs of a really good job, if they get a good engagement,” he said.
Other notable fans of Langberg’s include journalist Katie Couric and Food Network personality Sunny Anderson, who personally requested a custom food portrait for Food Network Magazine.
Langberg is the first to admit that his work has come a long way since the early days of posting his work on Facebook and desperately pitching himself to brands for potential partnerships,
Yet, his obsessive attention to detail has never changed.
If anything, the investor strives to think outside the food box and challenge himself. Within the last year, he graduated from making 2D to full 3D pieces that are like “mini dollhouses” with food.
“I’ve come a long way, but I knew after my first piece I wanted to create more and get more detailed,” said Langberg.
His most recent challenge was recreating a mini pool table using cucumbers.
“I’ve been doing this for a while, so I want to keep it fresh — not just for my followers, but for myself so it doesn’t get stale,” he said, no pun intended. “I’m always thinking of new ways to make it more exciting.”
These days, the 38-year-old told The Post that he strives to be resourceful with his food art, trying to repurpose leftovers or perishing produce in his fridge.
And since the art only lasts a couple of hours before going bad, after getting his photos and content, Langberg disassembles the portraits and uses the food to cook for his family.
Over a decade later, the investment firm worker by day, food artist by night, will soon be teaching his craft at his daughter’s school in addition to flying to Italy next September to share his passion with U.S. tourists in specialized food art cooking classes.
“Teaching kids is a chance for them to experiment, have fun and eat their creations because I use healthy ingredients,” said Langberg. “My daughter was very proud to have me come in and asked when I am coming again.”
English (US)