When restaurants came calling about using The Tines as eating tools, Tom realized the time was right to bring his fluid-dynamic eating tongs to the next level. This kindled his long-time desire to make a unifying utensil incorporating the best features of The Tines, spoons, chopsticks, forks and fingers.

The goal, to create a well-balanced eating tool that would feel warm in the hand, embrace food gently, and lift a bit of sauce, had to be achieved in a lightweight, dishwasher-safe, organic material. Tom had to realize his vision through a new, collaborative process of design using a food safe material, more durable than wood, yet with small ecological footprint.

Tom’s method of designing cooking, serving and eating tools–using Nature as a model–at this point had to meet the challenge of 3-D design and plastic molding. It took over two years of research and development to achieve the appropriate curvature to the plate and proper balance in the hand, featuring a sauce-sipping tip, pleasing in the mouth and on the lip.  An eating utensil so different, it even needed a new verb: to swip.