RESTAURANT REVIEW : A Big Emphasis on Image : Popular Rosti certainly knows how to attract customers. But many of its dishes prove uninspired.

Will there be no end to this mad Tuscan craze? Judging from the crowds that flock to Rosti in the Encino Marketplace, the answer appears to be: no, unh-unh, no way.

Walk into this brightly lit, stone-floored cafe, all crammed with simple wooden chairs and tables, and smell the rosemary and basil, the fresh breads a-baking. The counters overflow with biscotti, cans of espresso roast, an assortment of mass-market imported wines. This combination market and restaurant struck a friend of mine as a prototype for the world’s hippest cafeteria.

Antipasti, some of the featured pastas and bronze-skinned roast chickens are dished up behind glass cases. Cracker-crust pizzas without end emerge from Rosti’s brick oven. Several copper pots hang down quite handsomely over the bustling open kitchen, although one doubts they will ever see use.

Meanwhile, shoppers and takeout customers continuously filter in to fill their baskets with vacuum-packed bricks of arborio rice, composed salads and fancy Italian pastries--round, sugar-dusted confections with names that slip sweetly from the tongue, like torta di mele and lui e lei .

Encino Marketplace already has a Starbucks Coffee, a Barnes & Noble and a couple of other booming, upscale franchises, giving the peculiar impression that the realtors have picked their tenants, rather than vice versa. Rosti, too, is a chain, with sister establishments in Los Angeles, Brentwood and Santa Monica. It appears to be a smash--there’s been standing room only whenever I’ve stopped by--so we can expect more Rostis to spring up here and there . . . just like, um, porcini after the rains of la primavera .

I’d describe most of the food as competent, and certainly everything is reasonably priced. But really, much of it is bland and uninspiring, no matter how much the enthusiastic, high-energy team of waiters would have you think otherwise.

Take the issue of bread. Several good-looking fresh breads are displayed behind Rosti’s main counter--the flat, crusty ciabatta , to pick one. I’d buy one to take home, because the uninteresting, complimentary house rolls wouldn’t satisfy many people’s bread cravings.

A few of the antipasti are worth a shot. I enjoyed the delicately rich texture of a medley of green and yellow roasted peppers. Bite-sized rolls of ricotta-stuffed eggplant are a good value at $1.50, and the tonno e fagioli , a simple combination of white cannellini beans and flaked Italian tuna, is pleasant.

Pasta fagioli is one of Rosti’s success stories. This version of the well-known soup of beans and noodles is light, perfectly salted and permeated with a fresh bean flavor. As for the pizzas, they have the requisite modish toppings, such as funghi (fresh mushrooms) or melanzane (grilled eggplant). Too bad the tomato sauce on them is watery and neutral in flavor, the sort of thing you’d expect in a health spa.

Many people choose the restaurant’s pollo al mattone con patate , a flattened chicken, marinated with olive oil and garlic and cooked on a griddle. This is a very handsome plate of food, especially because of the mountain of roasted rosemary potato chunks served on the side.

Appearance, however, is the best part of it. All garlic and herbs seem to have been lost in translation, leaving a quite ordinary chicken. What’s more, the great-looking bronzed potatoes tend to be dried out, and after two or three pieces it gets to be work to eat them. Ask to substitute the delectable sauteed spinach ( spinaci saltati ) for these potatoes.

A variety of pastas can be had with the usual choice of sauces: pomodoro , ragu , pesto, arrabbiata and so on. One evening, I had a dense, ultra-meaty lasagna Bolognese , where the noodles appeared a mere afterthought beside a massive helping of ground meat. Spaghettini alla vongole is cooked properly al dente , but the clams themselves are flavorless, completely overshadowed by some (quite tasty) cloves of roasted garlic.

Chicken ravioli in spicy tomato sauce would be baby food without the extra spice bite in that sauce. The ravioli’s filling is pure mush, as if someone let the food processor run too long.

Risotto a piacere is surprisingly good, however. I had mine with frutti di mare (assorted seafoods; add $1). The classic arborio rice preparation may have too much chicken stock for a purist, but the calamari, shrimp and fresh clams--more flavorful here than on the spaghettini--work well with the chewy grains.

Desserts are something to look forward to. In addition to good cookies, biscotti and a tempting fruit-topped cheesecake, Rosti has a parade of creamy Italian pastries to accompany its decent cappuccino.

The best of the desserts is delizia , a sort of shortbread sandwich with an ethereal chocolate-hazelnut cream center.

“A healthy balance,” the menu says on its descriptive back page. Could it be that Rosti’s owners are making veiled references to their checking accounts?

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WHERE AND WHEN

Location: Rosti, Encino Marketplace, 16403 Ventura Blvd., Encino.

Suggested Dishes: Pasta fagioli , $4; risotto a piacere , $8.25; spinaci saltati , $4; pastries, $2.50 to $3.75.

Hours: Lunch and dinner 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

Price: Dinner for two, $14 to $23. Beer and wine only. Parking lot. All major cards.

Call: (818) 995-7179.