Vicky Carpenter outside Louis

AN actress who runs etiquette lessons has called for one of Hampstead’s best-loved cafés to restore its silver service after classic teapots were replaced with plastic pourers.

Actress Vicky Carpenter is campaigning for silver teapots to be brought back at Louis Hungarian Patisserie, in Heath Street, after the switch last week.

New manager Jack Rycaj – who has taken over following the retirement of Hampstead legend Louis Permayer after more than 50 years – said silver had become too expensive to maintain – and dangerous if not done properly.

Ms Carpenter said: “This is a wonderful place. It is authentic. It is one of the only places where there is no music. I love coming here and the way it makes me feel.

“The silver teapots are part of it. It is the only way to drink tea. I mean, you can tell a lot about a person by how they drink their tea. Beauty, art and literature should always come first.”

Ms Carpenter said she was hoping the silver teapots would be brought back and that she would like to hold special training sessions with young people showing them how to pour tea appropriately.

“I also teach etiquette and modern manners – so I think that would work quite well,” she said. “I could bring children in and show them how to pour the tea. You’d be surprised that young people do like this sort of thing.”

Mr Rycaj, who was in computers but has known Mr Permayer for several years, said he was trying to “simplify” his business.

“I do respect her point of view,” he said. “It is great that she feels like that. But the problem with silver, in my opinion, is that it shouldn’t be used for drinking. Some people say the silver can get in the drink.

“For each service there was a silver teapot, a jug for the milk and another for extra water. You have to buy and use a special paste to clean the silver. We are spending two hours, every three days just cleaning the silver.”

He added: “We don’t want to destroy the place. I want to keep Louis’ style. For 50 years, you have been able to come to Louis and buy the same cakes. The menu has been the same since the 1980s.”

Mr Permayer, who opened the café in 1963, is still a regular at the patisserie.