When I tell you about a restaurant that is a “real culinary find”, J & M Café is on the top of the list. This restaurant is certainly one of my favorites and for many good reasons. The food is outstanding!

J & M Cafe gained attention from the moment it opened in Fontana. The tiny restaurant was located in a not-so-attractive shopping center and from the outside it didn’t look like much. Once you tried the magnificent food, though, you were hooked.

Recently, the restaurant moved to larger, newer quarters and increased its menu to include a fusion of American, Latin American, Mexican, Italian and Asian dishes that will impress everyone who appreciates fresh, first-class food at affordable prices.

Chef/owner Gill Morales is very serious about his cuisine and each dish shows his passion.

I recommend, for starters, the Empanadas de Carne, $8.50, which consist of four fried achiote cornmeal crescent pastries filled with steak, plantain and yucca and served with guacamole, sour cream and pico de gallo. The pastry was delicious as was the filling. A great start indeed!

Next came the marvelous Pesto Goat Cheese Chicken Panini, $9.50, the exciting Pollo Brazo, $14.50, and the impressive Cerdo Con Manzanas, $17.50.

The Panini featured sourdough bread stuffed with grilled chicken, goat and mozzarella cheese, and a very tasty pesto sauce. The sandwich is then pressed and grilled and served with a delicate organic salad. I love this sandwich and order it every time I come here. You will, too, once you try it.

Another delicious dish is the Cerdo Con Manzanas – which for us gringos – means ancho-rubbed grilled double-cut pork chops
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topped with tangy sweet apple spice compote and a wonderful rich black pepper demi-glaze sauce with potato au gratin and organic mixed fresh veggies served on the side. The pork chop was tender, juicy and perfectly seasoned.

Rounding out the dishes on my first flight of dishes was the exciting Pollo Brazo, a large chicken breast pounded into submission and stuffed with spinach, mushrooms, bell peppers and onions. The chicken is then rolled up, pan seared, finished off in the oven and then topped with a green tomatillo and smoked tomato sauce with sour cream and steamed white rice. As expected, the chicken was moist and each bite I took made my mouth jump for joy. Chef Gill sure knows how to cook!

On my second pass through the menu, I ordered the Pescado Chispa, $15.50, the rich and creamy J & M Alfredo Pasta, $11.50, and the classic Rack of Lamb, $22.50. The Pescado Chispa consisted of a pan-roasted red snapper filet on top of a pile of pureed, lemon-scented yucca, saut ed spinach with a roasted corn poblano chile cream sauce.

This dish was excellent. The same could be said of the large portion of linguini with a rich creamy Alfredo sauce with red and yellow teardrop tomato halves, smoked bacon and pancetta. The combination of the bacon and the Alfredo sauce was a marriage made in heaven. The last entr e, the classic Rack of Lamb, featured five meaty “racks” served on a bed of fried yucca, creamed spinach, crispy Guatemalan cabbage slaw and a reduced dark black peppery Rioja wine sauce. What a great dish!

For dessert, you must try the homemade Coconut Flan and the Tiramisu, which are the perfect ending to a most memorable meal. It should be noted that beer and wine will be arriving soon as well as a special third anniversary dinner on Sept. 4. Feast on a stunning four-course dinner for only $40 – an absolute steal! Reservations are a must.

In closing, J & M Cafe is easily one of the top five restaurants in the Inland Empire, and no matter what you order your taste buds and culinary senses will be thrilled and delighted.