French Tostada moved into our downstairs kitchen across the April 10-12 weekend, paying homage to traditional French techniques using quintessential Mexican street food as the canvas. Elegance, vibrance, and unbridled deliciousness.

The carefully and creatively curated menu was immediately intriguing. From Baja Cod Grenobloise with Modelo-battered cod, lemon, capers and cornichons, to Lyonnaise Braised Ox Cheek Carnitas using veal stock, port, and red wine finished with persillade and pickled radish, there was a striking attention to detail alongside a playful willingness to experiment.

And no wonder, as the man behind French Tostada has the credentials to underpin this creative concept with serious technical foundations. Josh Wheatley cut his teeth working in the Michelin-star kitchen 64 Goodge Street, getting schooled in French tradition of the very highest standard.

You could feel those roots throughout the French Tostada menu. Serious culinary grounding worn lightly, classical French ideas reimagined with enough confidence to bend the rules rather than simply follow them. Somebody genuinely fluent in one culinary language having fun speaking another.

As the man said himself: “Tostadas are always so vibrant, bright and fresh. And I think these virtues are such a good lens to look through the richness and indulgence of French food."

Where else can you tuck into an immaculately succulent and delicately balanced Lyonnaise braised ox cheek atop a crunchy edible plate? Or quail’s leg garnished with a sweet, tarty, and simultaneously sharp relish?

The humble tostada became an exciting canvas for the classical techniques Josh carries in his bones: grenobloise, persillade, confit, braising, emulsions, and the rest. As he told us, “a lot of those garnishes or techniques are reflexes now”. And what delicious reflexes they were.

Over 270 tostadas hit the floor over the weekend, resulting in more than a few very happy tastebuds. And rightly so. The menu was a testament to the breadth of Josh’s influences and technical confidence, evident across the Baja Cod Grenobloise, Lyonnaise Braised Ox Cheek Carnitas, or innovative house nachos.

Elsewhere, Quail Basquaise paired roast quail breast and duck fat confit leg with chorizo jam and pepper salsa, while the Croque Señor gave a playful nod to the classic Croque Monsieur, and Ratatouille reimagined the Provençal staple through datterini and artichoke salsa roja, fried courgette and aubergine.

Josh was equally uncompromising when it came to sourcing. Cod arrived from Flying Fish in Cornwall, ox cheek and whole quail from HG Walter, while butter came courtesy of Albion’s famously luxurious French slabs – because, as he puts it, “you get out what you put in.”

All of this unfolded during what can only be described as a classic weekend at Moyletts: uniquely tasty food, party-starting DJs, infinite beers, and our ever-wonderful clientele. Crucially, the kitchen was having fun too – Modelo comes in packs of four, after all, “1 for the batter. 3 for the chefs.”

But it wasn’t all plainsailing: top-tier ingredients can throw budgets out of whack, and the kitchen can be a dangerous place to work. All in all, however, it was a fitting send-off for Josh who is about to embark on a new kitchen adventure in France. He may be about to swap Fitzrovia for Paris, but there’s every chance French Tostada will be back on British shores before too long.

Want the full story? In our interview, Josh breaks down his Michelin-star training, the secret behind a grenobloise Baja fish taco, why the Quail Basquaise was his personal favourite, the lost battle against a gastro of veal stock that sent him to the burns unit, and what French Tostada 2.0 might look like.

Duck à l’orange tostada, anyone?

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You worked in a Michelin-starred French kitchen at 64 Goodge Street – what did that environment actually teach you, and where are you at now on your culinary journey?

J: “Well 64 is actually the only professional kitchen I’ve worked in. A couple of years ago I was fairly unhappily working in advertising and Goodge Street had only been open for a month. I actually applied for a Chef de Partie role which I was grossly unqualified for which I think got their attention with an empty CV. I must’ve peeled just enough potatoes and asked the right amount of questions because they ended up offering me a role as commis.
It always comes down to confidence for me. At the beginning you have very little. But over time, section by section you feed into it until you move onto the next. And then you build it up again. That all starts with coming in everyday and seeing the confidence your head and sous chefs have in their abilities, their menus and the team they assemble around them. And then eventually you’re instilling that confidence into someone else that’s just starting out. It’s that exchange of confidence that I love the most.
So, now I’m moving to Paris. It’s a step away from the Michelin environment but I get to work with a small team where the menu changes everyday and you get to do a bit of everything everyday too, from pastry to fish/meat cookery and sauces.”

Your culinary story is a real lesson is just putting yourself out there, respect! And wishing you the best of luck on your new venture, you’ll smash it I’m sure.

French cuisine and tostadas aren’t an obvious pairing. When did the idea for French Tostada first click, and what made you confident it could work?

J: “I was actually just thinking of a name for a traditional French style pop up and got caught on “French Toast”, like a toast or nod to France. And then French Tostada was a stone’s throw from there! I love pop ups that have a niche but enough room to have fun with toppings or menu items and sometimes French food can be a bit devoid of crunch.”

You can say that again!

How do you approach building a dish like your Baja Cod Grenobloise or Ox Cheek Carnitas? Are you starting from French technique, Mexican inspiration, or something else entirely?

J: “So the Grenobloise is a classic French sauce that we would serve at the restaurant with pan-fried John Dory or Skate. But for me Baja fish tacos are always a must-order at any taco spot. So this was the easiest case of marrying two of my favourite foods. Then something like the Carnitas is born out of looking at a more traditional Mexican dish. But then braising it with port, red wine and veal stock and finishing it with persillade you get to bring in the French side through the technique. But aesthetically, that is a carnitas tostada, so it’s useful I can push the emphasis from either culinary culture throughout the menu.”

There’s a lot of classic French technique in your dishes like persillade, grenobloise and confit. How much of that comes directly from your time in a Michelin-starred kitchen, and how consciously are you applying it here?

J: “Because that’s where I learnt to cook naturally a lot of those garnishes or techniques are reflexes now. Each culinary style and kitchen has their own method of getting the most of the ingredients that arrive everyday and the French translation of this is what I’ve been taught and I’m glad that comes through!”

French cooking is often seen as quite structured and rule-driven. Has working on something like tostadas given you a chance to loosen that up or approach things differently?

“J: 100%. Tostadas are always so vibrant, bright and fresh. And I think these virtues are such a good lens to look through the richness and indulgence of French food. They balance each other and push the final product into a new space.
Also with lots of cuisines they have common denominators. Like the difference between a salsa verde, gremolata, chimichurri, persillade or pesto. They’re all different in their own right, you can borrow and you can lean but they add similar attributes to any dish.”

So true. Even just looking at the menu, it’s also clear the ingredients are a big part of it. Things like Modelo-battered cod or Lyonnaise-style ox cheek feel very considered. How important was ingredient quality and specificity when you were putting this together?

J: “Massively. Modelos come in packs of 4. 1 for the batter. 3 for the chefs.”

Listen, fair play. You guys more than deserve it!

What kind of challenges did the emphasis on top-tier ingredients create in practice? Whether that’s sourcing, cost, or making it work within a short pop-up format.

J: "Admittedly I’m not the most financially savvy and with this being my first pop-up it was unchartered territory. But I was deadset on getting the best ingredients we could, purely because I, maybe naively, believed in the food paying for itself. Cod from Flying Fish in Cornwall. Ox cheek and whole quail from HG Walter. The posh, French gold-bar butter from Albion. You get out what you put in.”

Yeah, I could definitely taste the difference so you’re not wrong there.

I heard there was an incident involving a blowtorch and a burnt foot. What happened there?

J: “I lost a fight with a gastro of boiling veal stock. PSA to always run cold water on your burns unless you want a couple of skin grafts and an all-inclusive trip to Broomfield Burns Unit.”

Damn mate, deliciousness comes at the ultimate price sometimes eh? Hope you recovered swiftly!

More generally, how did the reality of cooking in a busy pub pop-up compare to your experience in a Michelin-starred kitchen?

J: “I had the best team around me with some of my favourite chefs I’ve worked with which is the majority of the battle. But the atmosphere was great. We were busy everyday and Moylett’s were hosting DJs all-weekend-long so it packed out regularly. It was a great atmosphere in the kitchen and serving out of the hatch with my friends was a pleasure. It’s slightly different to the sultry dining room in Fitzrovia but both have a special place in my heart!

Yeah the pub was popping across that weekend, I can also imagine the pleasant novelty of serving out a hatch, especially compared to your usual surroundings.

Roughly how many tostadas did you end up serving, and did anything sell out faster than you expected?

“J: Just over 270 over the weekend. And yes! Buy more cod, battered fish sells like hotcakes.”

Did you have a personal favourite? Either from an eating or preparing perspective (or both)?

“J: I loved the Quail Basquaise. It was a real ode to my time in the restaurant. The sweet, jammy acidity from the chorizo jam and pepper salsa paired with the cool creme fraiche and espelette was just a great bite. Preparation-wise I definitely want to get a patent on the thin, curly nacho shape and the Comte queso sauce.”

With talk of Paris on the horizon do you see French Tostada as a one-off concept, or something you’d want to evolve further?

“J: I definitely want to go again! Reboot the nachos and house tostadas whilst bringing in a new batch of limited Tostadas du Jour, maybe a Duck à l’orange or scallop tostada. Who knows!”

Huge thank you to Josh for taking the time to chat to us, and of course for supplying the pub with such tremendously tasty and inventive food with French Tostada.

And massive thank you to everyone contributing photos, it's all so appreciated!

We'll see you at the bar or for the next instalment of the Moyletts Spotlight.

Sláinte!

Written & edited by Marko Marincic