Todd Collins, a native of Seattle and one of the partners in Daily Caffe, which opened the first of two coffee bars in Rockefeller Center a year and a half ago, said: "New Yorkers have taken to espresso-based drinks a lot faster than we expected. About 65 percent of what we sell is made with espresso. The afternoon is the only time decaffeinated versions are popular." Prices range from 95 cents to $3.

Throughout the fall, other coffee bars will be opening in Manhattan, bringing the total to more than 20. Many are just counters for a quick pick-me-up, while others, like the four owned by Dean & DeLuca, offer tables and light food in a stylish setting.

But New York has yet to catch up with Chicago, where more than 40 espresso bars and cafes have blossomed in the last few years, or with Seattle, which boasts nearly 150 of them: on street corners, in bookstores, at a car wash, in a dentist's office. Espresso is even served at all the Burger Kings in the Seattle area.

Good, strong coffee has now become many people's passion. In the back-to-basics-90's its turn has come.

One of the first companies to feel the pulse quicken was Starbucks, founded in Seattle in 1971. Named for the coffee-swilling first mate in "Moby Dick," the company initially only roasted and sold coffee. In 1986, Howard Schultz, now the company's chief executive, added an espresso bar to one of the stores.

The Starbucks chain of nearly 200 espresso bars and cafes, which also sell the coffee by the pound, are all company-owned, with new ones opening at a rate of six a month. They have been established in Seattle, Chicago and Southern California. Denver is coming next, and Washington will be added by early 1993. There are no plans to open in New York, but the coffee is served and sold at the Daily Caffe and Bodum shops.

Mr. Schultz explained the success in simple terms. "Give people good coffee, something they consume every day, and they will support you," he said. "The desire for a darker roast comes from people who have rejected supermarket coffee, and more and more coffee drinkers are doing just that."