FOR FOOD FANS, IT'S ENTIRELY SATISFYING.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic

FOODIES WHO HAVE been hungry for a new gourmet-minded movie will undoubtedly want to grab a place at the table for ``Mostly Martha,'' a German import that makes food a fetish every bit as delectably as ``Big Night'' did several years ago. This crowd-pleasing character study might feel more like a confection than a satisfying meal, but there's no denying its lighthearted pleasures.

The film's title character is a perfectionist chef working at a gourmet restaurant in Hamburg. Outside of the kitchen, Martha (Martina Gedeck) has no life, which explains why she gets in such a huff when a customer questions the way she prepares her foie gras. After this little episode, the restaurant's owner sends Martha to a therapist. Problem: The food- loving shrink (August Zirner) can't concentrate on Martha's personal problems because she spends all her sessions talking about her delectable meals.

Sandra Nettlebeck, the film's first-time writer and director, introduces two characters to upset Martha's suffocating world. Martha's 8-year-old niece, Lina (Maxine Foerste), comes to live with her aunt and promptly engages her in a supreme battle of wills. Since Martha barely knows how to take care of herself, focusing on the emotional needs of a damaged little girl forces her - finally - to think about something other than food.

Meanwhile, back at the restaurant, the owner has brought in an Italian sous-chef, Mario (Sergio Castellitto), who is as carefree and charming as Martha is obsessive and prickly. Naturally they clash, and, just as obviously, Nettlebeck takes their adversarial relationship into romantic territory. The movie's plot is as predictable as comfort food.

Still, it's hard to complain, particularly when Nettlebeck has put such a complex ice queen at the center of her movie. Martha never apologizes or explains her behavior; she is who she is - graceful in the kitchen and ungainly everywhere else. Gedeck handles the behavioral shifts superbly, so much so that anyone looking for a little food for thought - along with all the eats - will come away from ``Mostly Martha'' feeling well-nourished.

MOSTLY MARTHA - Three stars

(PG: thematic material and mild language)

Starring: Martina Gedeck, Sergio Castellitto, Maxime Foerste.

Director: Sandra Nettlebeck.

Running time: 1 hr. 47 min.

Playing: Laemmle's Music Hall in Beverly Hills, Landmark's NuWilshire in Santa Monica.

In a nutshell: Prickly chef learns there's more to life than food in this German export that will leave you hungry for more.

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Martina Gedeck, left, with Maxime Foerste, Katja Studt and Sergio Castellitto, plays an uptight chef who must take in her 8-year-old niece in ``Mostly Martha.''