I’ve spent the past few months travelling up and down the country filming a new series of Kitchen Nightmares – and I’ve got to say it was even more shocking than last time.

How restaurants have the nerve to serve up some of the filth I tasted, let alone charge for it, I’ll never know. Ineptness, greed, arrogance – whatever you call it, it’s a disgrace.

But even restaurants with a lot going for them can struggle. The main problem outside London is filling tables Monday to Thursday.

You can be full every weekend, but if you aren’t getting any return earlier in the week, you are sunk. Time and again during filming, I found myself repeating the same mantra: keep things simple, seasonal and local. Show-off food and show-off prices won’t win anyone round – tempt customers in with simple dishes they are familiar
with and build from there.

Use the local Lechlade trout in Wiltshire or Label Anglais chickens from Essex in Chelmsford. Make a lovely Cullen skink in Scotland – that’s what people want to see on a menu.

Here are three dishes that I think in their different ways reflect that philosophy. I hope you enjoy them.

Recipes

Tuscan bean soup

Meat loaf

Salad of pan-roasted scallops with sultana and caper dressing

Times Recommends

• English wine has always been possible
• AA Gill reviews Foxtrot Oscar
• The authentic taste of Italy: Veneto