Karen Tatro is best known for her medium work. However, last year she and her daughter, Nicole Allen, opened a tea room at Tilton’s Black Swan Inn. Because business was better than expected, they moved their Arcana Apothecary Tea Room to The Greenfield Inn.
While not a New Hampshire native, Tatro has lived in the state for more than 45 years after moving to Hancock from Illinois with her family in 1980.
“I’m not a native to the area, but I’ve been around long enough to where I feel like one. I was in the eighth grade when we moved. Before getting into medium work and starting the tea room, I worked at Hair Smith in Peterborough. I eventually moved to Antrim after meeting my husband, Steve, who’s a lifelong New Hampshire resident,” she said.
Allen, a 2014 ConVal Regional High School graduate and a classically trained pastry chef, was Southern New Hampshire University’s 2018 chef of the year according to Tatro. Allen’s love of the culinary arts, as well as her interest in teas and tinctures, prompted them to start the business.
“When coming up with the idea, Nicole and I drew inspiration from her baking background as well as from our time hosting events at Dover’s Silver Fountain Inn, which had its own tea room. Doing medium work while drinking tea with customers was an experience we both enjoyed,” Tatro said. “In starting the business, we wanted to intertwine my passion for event planning with Nicole’s passion for baking while working tea into the equation.”
“We first opened the tea shop in January of 2025. We decided to give it a three-month trial. After all three dates were fully booked, which was far more business than we intended, we decided we needed a bigger venue, so we packed up the shop in October to relocate,” Tatro added.
At the Black Swan Inn, Tatro said she was seeing 40 to 50 customers per weekend.
The tea room operates on a reservation-only basis and hosts two tea sittings on one Saturday each month. During tea sittings, Tatro and Allen serve customers various teas and homemade pastries and sandwiches.
Tatro added that all tea sittings are themed. “We host one sitting at noon and another at 3 p.m. on the same day. Some themes we’ve used in the past related to the Titanic and Bridgerton. The Titanic-themed sitting incorporated pictures, artefacts, news clippings and other decor inspired by the ship. All of the sittings are done in a traditional Victorian style fashion and accompanied by real china tea sets.”
Tatro also uses tea room sittings to augment other weekend events.
“Usually, on Friday, we’ll have an event not directly related to the tea room. It’s typically a murder mystery with paranormal elements or a medium event customers have signed up for,” she said. “Sometimes the customers are at the inn for the whole weekend, so they’ll then take part in the tea sitting held the next day.”
When looking for a new location, Tatro and Allen already had an established working relationship with The Greenfield Inn owner Jarvis Adams.
“I’ve always loved The Greenfield Inn and have worked with Jarvis a lot over the years. In addition to hosting events at the inn, Nicole had her wedding here,” Tatro said. “It’s the perfect place for our Arcana Apothecary Tea Room.”
Because Adams is renovating the inn’s basement, the shop is in the Hay Loft on the second floor. According to Tatro, once the renovations are finished, the shop will move down to the basement.
Arcana Apothecary Tea Room will be hosting its first tea sittings at The Greenfield Inn on Saturday, Jan. 24. Three more are scheduled for February, March and April, respectively. Sittings are $45 per person.
Tatro is planning an official grand opening for May 2.