N = 2 SuperConformal QCD is perhaps the simplest theory outside the N = 4 "universality class" that we can attempt to study holographically. It is moreover continuously connected to the N = 4 class by an interpolating family of N = 2 SCFT. Careful analysis of its chiral spectrum points towards a gravity dual description via a non-critical string background. We then turn to the study of spin chains. The complete one-loop Hamiltonian and some higher-loop results already reveal a rich dynamics. We present past results and current progress.