Yes, when I said replicate the Pullman I meant only on a select number of services. The problem with the restaurant service back in the day was there were trains where it was nigh on impossible to get seated unless you were standing waiting on the doors opening to see the Chief Steward and then there were services where you were the only diner or maybe one other table occupied. Had it been scaled back a bit to a limited number where it did make money it could possibly have survived.
If it were done properly it could work well even with a complimentary first class offering - there are always people willing to pay for better/the experience/a bit of luxury.
It was also an idea that was mooted on one of the many questionnaires VTEC sent out - the option of a standard first class comp offer or pay to upgrade to a chef cooked three course meal.
A bit OT, for which I apologise, but I wanted to pick up on the mention of GNER restaurant services only making money on a limited number of services. I have an uncomfortable feeling that this is something that has passed into lore (a bit like Network Rail not having delivered ECML infrastructure projects), without there having been much auditable detail in the public domain.
I certainly remember some services being light on customers, but I also remember two full carriages of an IC225 being laid for breakfast and some tables being turned at least once between the North East and London. I also remember catching the 18:12 from Newcastle daily, which arrived in as the 17:32 (IIRC) from London, with a catering crew looking like they'd just run a marathon and the restaurant car looking like it had fed and watered a batallion of war-weary soldiers. More than a few clearly wanted to eat and drink at 14:30 out of London.
What I also remember is that National Express was hugely focussed on reducing the employee head count. It's unfair, probably, to single them out when the nature of employment across a vast swathe of industry sectors has been to replace full time direct employees with agency, part time and zero-hour contract resources. Some employers, especially those who are themselves contractors, have arguably seen employees more as liabilities than assets. Getting rid of highly trained, well paid staff such as First Class chefs and stewards must have seemed a win-win to them in terms of radically reducing costs and liabilities.
Allowing a narrative of 'loss-making' and 'for the fat cats' to propogate possibly eased their path to making the cuts.
As I am sure others do, I remember being in my early 20s and my employer paying for an Executive ticket for me, so that I could eat at 06:00 and 18:00 (ie on my time!) and spend 'their' time in between working as much as I possibly could, with my Tube and car parking covered as well. A uniformed member of staff, with a hat, stood at every door at every calling point, and they knew exactly who was boarding, and when. Commuting managers marched up and down with tea and coffee pots while the train staff did the silver service.
Things have changed in the world since then, and I am not suggesting that this would or even could work in the same way now. But I am still uncomfortable with the notion that these services didn't make money, either directly or in halo terms. I think that they were just more bother than the operators post GNER wanted to deal with. GNER perhaps either saw a bigger commercial picture, or they saw it as being part of the pride that they seemed to have in their operation.
