Tradition or not, slurping soup broth directly from a bowl can be an awkward experience, if only because you often end up with it dripping down your chin. But instead of letting all that tasty broth go to waste because you don't have a spoon at your disposal, hopefully restaurants will see the genius in Julian Lechner's hollow chop stick design he's named Soup Straws.


They look and function like a run-of-the-mill set of chopsticks, but it's what's inside—or not inside—that makes them extra useful. An opening at the end, coupled with a series of holes near the tip, allow you to sip broth or other liquids in between mouthfuls of noodles, meat, and veggies. Tragically the Soup Straws are just a concept design right now, waiting for someone to find a way to make them cheap and easy to mass produce so the world no longer has to slurp the last bits of a meal. [Julian Lechner via MoCo Loco]