A sun-baked Jamaican man peered down at us from horseback, his dreadlocks whipping in the wind. The two of us sat before four large plates of food and one basket of the freshest focaccia bread I ever tasted. Could we pull this off?

Both of the cashier's eyebrows went up after we placed our order. "This is a lot of food." I had no doubt we could eat all of the food we ordered, but my partner was hesitant, mostly because of her shrinking waistline. But here was the moment of truth.

Everything was going fine when we took our seats at a round, glossy, cherry wood table in the back of the Half Moon, a Wallingford hotspot whose reputation precedes it. "I didn't think there'd be a place this cool in Wallingford," exclaimed my friend. I walked in with wide-eyed wonder. The walls are a juicy mango yellow and the ceiling is a terra-cotta orange with royal Caribbean blue trim around the windows and pipes. The brightness makes your eyes bug. The cherry wood accents bring you back down to earth.

You'd think a coffee bar would be filled with skateboarders and college kids pretending to be hip. Instead, we found the senior crowd, teachers grading papers and occasionally a gaggle of thirtysomething women laughing. On the weekends, there's a line to get in.

Half Moon is first a Jamaican coffee bar, offering gourmet teas and coffee drinks. The teas are from the Republic of Tea, Tazo, Higgins & Burke--not Lipton. Lloyd Parchment, Half Moon's co-owner owns Jamaican Gourmet Coffee and has merged it into the Half Moon enterprise. Mario Landino is the other half. And creative chef Stefano is behind the grill in the back, making it all look easy.

For drinks, Half Moon offers mango, guava, pineapple-coconut, wild berry, and peach pizazz smoothies ($3). Chai teas, all the rage right now, are offered in a variety of flavors, such as chocolate, raspberry, green tea, vanilla and spice ($1.80).

One wall of Half Moon is lined with shelves that are stacked with gift basket staples. Truffles, biscotti, pannetone, mugs filled with foil-wrapped candy and peppermints, chocolate candy trees, six-packs of Sanpelligrino and coffee presses. You can even get a T-shirt. But I digress.

First our waitress brought out the Half Moon salad ($4.50)--"the most normal of all the salads," said the cashier with whom we placed our order. It wasn't normal though. It was extraordinary. The presentation was beautiful. Huge and fresh, the tomato slices weren't pink and freezer burnt, typical in wintertime salads. The red wine vinaigrette was distributed evenly over every leaf and was yummy. I dipped my focaccia bread in the dregs.

My number one ace homey had a Milanese panini sandwich ($6.95). It contains a breaded veal cutlet smothered with mozzarella and topped with arugula and tomato. She said it was delicious, encouraging me to try some of her side of pasta salad, which comes with the sandwich. The cold rotini noodles tossed with fresh carrots, kidney beans, thinly sliced cucumber, yellow squash and olives made her happy. I didn't need to try hers; I had my own. It came with the vegetable wrap I ordered (sauteed spinach with grilled broccoli and mushrooms topped with mozzarella, $5.95). The broccoli was cooked just right, still a bit crisp but not raw. Spinach wedged itself between my teeth with every bite, but the mushrooms made it a worthy endeavor.

We pushed aside the bright orange plates, with only crumbs remaining, as our waitress brought the next round. Across the way, a pack of dogs playing cards on a pool table teased us. "What are you looking at?" we replied, and the Jamaican shook his head.

After the chicken pesto gourmet pizza arrived (a luscious, oily mix of grilled chicken, roasted peppers and mozzarella topped with homemade pesto sauce on a thin crust, $7.95), mi amica slowed her roll. As good as the Milanese was, she said, the pizza left it in the dust. I think it may have been the pine nuts, but all she could say was: "It's fresh. They must be in the back roasting their own peppers." Halfway through, she could eat no more.

I was also having problems with the escovitch filet ($13.95), sole sauteed with Jamaican escovitch sauce and served with cinammony plantains. It was light, with a complex blend of flavors that reminded me of the islands. Finally, the Jamaican was pleased, riding his horse into the high grasses of the painting hanging over our table. He, too, knew that we would be back.

Hours: Open Sun. 8:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m., Mon. & Tues. 7:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. and Wed.-Sat. 7:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m.

Extras:

Cuisine Pizza, Seafood, Other (Coffee bar), Sandwich Meals Served Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Parking Available in lot. Payment Method Visa, MasterCard Price Range Entrees $6.50-$16.95 Reservations Recommended for 6 or more. Services Catering, Private Parties, Carry Out Spirits BYOB Wheelchair Access Entrance and restrooms are accessible.