It’s a good thing my paleo diet experiment died in its early stages (‘Faileo?’), as it means that I can eat my way through the fresh pasta available at Fox in the Corn in Footscray seven days a week.

Fox in the Corn is a new venture from the founders of in Williamstown. Five years after establishing their wholesale pasta business, they’ve decided to re-inject Mediterranean fare back into Asian and African-dominated Footscray.

The space is handsome and light-filled. Plywood black padded booths hug a U-shape around the white-subway-tiled bar (they’re still waiting on their liquor licence and will serve craft beers as soon as it’s approved). There are a few subtle hints of greenery here and there, including a giant terrarium.

The menu is a one-page affair. There are three simple starters – olives, jamon, pickled octopus – a green salad and a caprese salad. The main event is the pasta and you can choose between fettuccine or ravioli filled with spinach and ricotta or beef (+ $3).

The difficulty is in selecting a sauce. There are eleven to choose from, with a pasta served with house made napoli starting at $12.50 to most expensive dish being smoked salmon cream, rocket and capers ($18).

I decided on fettuccine with slow cooked beef ragu with spring onion ($17.50) and ravioli with pancetta, leek and tomato with panko and parsley ($16.50). Both dishes were generously sized and two dishes could easily feed three people.

The fettucine ribbons were squiggly and slightly chewy, as good handmade pasta should be. The ravioli had a good proportion of filling vs casing and was similarly cooked al dente. Of the two sauces I preferred the pancetta as it had a complexity of flavour from the chunks of smoky pancetta that the ragu (what most of us know as bolognaise) lacked. Though I was impressed by the beef, which is minced in house.

For dessert there’s a range of Gundowring flavours ($4.50) but we were so full from our pasta that we didn’t need anything else.

Fox in the Corn is one of a kind in Footscray and I think it will do well. They’re open 11am-11pm which means we could have a kid-friendly dinner at 5pm. The pasta is excellent quality and the sauces are vibrant and fresh, with enough options to suit every taste. If you’re not in the mood for a meal then they also serve a weekly rotation of coffee beans from Monk Bodhi Dharma.

Fox in the Corn, 4 Droop Street, Footscray

Daily 11am-11pm