Mandolin is a relatively new Italian restaurant tucked away on a side street, in a 130-year-old house near downtown. Finding a place to park can be a little confusing, but there is parking at the rear; you can go in what normally would be considered the back door. Its a restaurant thats worth finding. The exterior has retained the charm of an older home, with a big front porch, handsome railing around the porch, and trim that perfectly compliments the original brick exterior. Entering through one of the original glass doors, youll be greeted and escorted to one of the many rooms where meals are served. Keep your head swiveling, because everywhere you look are exquisite decorative pieces of art created by the owner. I cant begin to describe the many and varied pieces, but I suggest that you take a little extra time to make sure you visit each room to see his artistic ability. The floors are hardwood and the brick is exposed on many of the walls. This makes for a nice, cozy feeling. The downside is the noise factor; because all these hard surfaces bounce the sound around, it is noisier than you would expect in a nicer restaurant. Our server was pleasant and knowledgeable about the menu items, patiently answering our many questions about items with which we were unfamiliar. Mussels di Napoli started out the evening. They were on the small side but were nicely prepared, with a wonderful sauce of garlic butter and wine, served with diced tomatoes and attractively presented on dark green leaves of lettuce. For dinner we ordered two different kinds of the crespella featured on the menu, and one of the specials that evening was a crespella salmon. As our server explained, a crespella is like a crepe, then wrapped around different fillings. The crespella bundles were stuffed with ground beef and Italian meats with marinara and alfredo sauce. The crespella rolls were filled with grilled chicken, ricotta, spinach, tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, which was baked in a white cream sauce. The Crespella Salmon also had shrimp, green bell peppers and chopped tomatoes with a creamy sauce with chunks of calamari, mussels and other seafood. Each of the crespellas offered a different taste treat, even though each dish looked like the other. The common denominator was the crespella holding everything together. Another special that evening was rattlesnake pasta a misnomer, since there was no rattlesnake meat in the dish, only chicken. Our server made this perfectly clear, though, so it wasnt really a problem. But she did have a problem giving me an idea of how spicy it would be. She said it was pretty bland with only the taste of cayenne pepper to give it some punch. This was a very spicy dish it not only had a lot of cayenne pepper, but I found out later what made it very spicy was a special pepper from Macedonia. Its not a dish I can recommend, unless you are just into hot and spicy for the sake of hot and spicy. Surprisingly, there was only one dessert on the menu. And even more surprising, it wasnt the traditional Italian dessert, tiramisu it was a banana split. But there was a dessert of the day not on the menu which was outstanding. It was called Rafaello cake. The bottom layer was coconut, and then a layer of creamy, very rich whipped chocolate, topped with a ribbon of whipped cream. This was all served on swirls of chocolate sauce an impressive dessert all around. Our server suggested she could add some ice cream on the side to soothe the fire in my mouth, which was thoughtful and appreciated. So, Mandolin, youre forgiven for not having tiramisu, because this was an unusual and delicious alternative. Heres an easy and cheap recommendation to Mandolin owners to make the dining experience more pleasurable: Get rid of those thin paper napkins. They dont cover your lap, fall on the floor, and fall apart when used. Youve got a nice place with some excellent dishes, and having linen napkins goes with the territory. The reviewer is employed at the Daily News. He/she pays for his/her meals and his/her gym fees to maintain his/her figure. New restaurants are given an eight-week grace period before being reviewed. To comment, contact managing editor Mike Alexieff at 783-3235. Mandolin712 Chestnut St. Hours: Mon.-Fri. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (lunch); Mon.-Sat. 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. (dinner)Specialties: Pastas and crespellasCuisine: ItalianPrice range for dinner: $7.99 – $17.99Libation situation: Full barSmoking: Yes