Chef Dan Swinney on working with Lidia Bastianich and overseeing a 2,000-seat dining room

Sunlight blazed through a hole in the ceiling roughly the size of a Buick, and the surrounding lots were empty, save for overgrown grass. But when chef Dan Swinney stepped inside the Freight House building 15 years ago, he saw the potential for Lidia’s (101 W. 22nd St.) — the flagship of what would become a thriving restaurant district.

“This was going to be more than just a restaurant. I thought it would be an important event in the culinary history of Kansas City, and I wanted to be a part of it,” Swinney says.