Caponata

3-7 Delancey Street

London

NW1 7NL

Caponata is a Sicilian restaurant upstairs from The Forge, a live music venue in Camden. We were there for Kai and Kai's Cats, a swing band who were performing as part of the London Jazz Festival (but also have a monthly residency at The Forge and at Ronnie Scott's). Dinner seemed like a good idea before a night of swing dancing, so we tried a couple of cocktails (2 for 1 before 8pm) and had "gnocchi in a black cabbage cream with crispy pancetta bacon" and "gnocchi with a delicate duck and dill sauce". Both were good, though A slightly preferred the one with duck. The portions looked a little small but after eating them we were full so perhaps they were deceptive in appearance. We headed downstairs after dinner for some dance lessons (the Charleston, which is pretty challenging to learn in an hour) and then when the band started up, some phenomenal dancers came out to play - good for watching but rather intimidating to dance next to, when you're still a beginner.