Ah, the travails of middle school. Making friends, keeping up with schoolwork, trying to eat a pizza in mixed company without making a fool of yourself. That last challenge in particular was a tough one for Mike Miller, who wanted to eat pizza neatly with a fork while trying to impress some young ladies. But it’s not an easy task, and he wound up wishing for a fork-like utensil that incorporated the functionality of the snazzy pizza cutter. Fast forward about a decade, and Mike has invented just such a thing.

Mike left medical school to devote his energy to designing the Knork he envisioned so many years earlier. He observed the way people eat and engineered a curved, beveled edge and subtle fingertip platform below the tines that gives you leverage when you’re using a rocking motion to cut through foods. The Knork is not meant to replace the knife, but rather work as a better performing fork. These modifications better support the maneuvering we try to do with the standard fork. They even enable a user to both cut and spear food using one utensil and one hand.

Knorks come in stainless steel and are ideal for cocktail parties and other events that call for standing, balancing a plate of food, and trying to eat without making an embarrassing mess. It’s like middle school all over again—but now there’s a better utensil option.