Stephani Teran
Express staff
You may believe you have to travel to France or some far off European destination to experience truly exquisite pastries and baked goods, but locals only have to drive to Kingston or Plymouth. Upon entering either bustling location not only will you find chic and comforting interiors and friendly people that you can tell genuinely enjoy their work, but you will discover what many call the best pastry (especially croissants) outside of France. Whether meeting a friend over one of their unique and always enjoyable beverages, picking up a box of seasonal pastries to go, or placing an order for one of their coveted cakes, Keegan Kreations offers a memorable experience for everyone.
Keegan Thim Yee made his way from Ipoh, Malaysia to Boston in 1996. In spite of his culinary reputation now, Yee did not come to America with a pension for sweets or an interest in baking. In fact, both were largely unknown to him. “Growing up I was not allowed sweets. To me an apple or orange were considered treats.”
He first experienced the allure of confection in New York City where his friend ordered the Crème brûlée at a restaurant. He tasted it and immediately wanted to know how it was made. His friend later bought him a recipe book, and he began to experiment with making Crème brûlée at home. Yee had his first job as a waiter at a local Chinese restaurant. He had to overcome learning a new language and getting comfortable with a different culture, but Yee said that he always felt at home here.
Yee continued to work hard and gain experience in the food industry, but his breakthrough came when he attended a fellowship potluck in 2008 where he brought his practiced and perfected Crème brûlée to share. People quickly realized his flawless execution of the dessert and began to encourage him to pursue further education in the baking arts. Yee took their advice and began his education in Baking and Pastry at Johnson and Wales University in Rhode Island. Upon graduation he worked at the Taj Boston and this is when he began to develop his own style. He also attended The French Pastry School of Chicago for a competition in chocolate showcases. Following these experiences, Yee began working at the five-star Wheatleigh Hotel in the Berkshires. This is where he met his wife, Yilin.
At Wheatleigh, Yee refined his experience and skill in producing high quality, delectable works of art in a commercial kitchen with a high demand environment. After years of receiving positive feedback from family and friends, Yee said he found baking to be an affirmative process. “Baking is an ice breaker,” Yee points out, “You make friends over baked goods. I love seeing people love what I make.”
Yee was able to see just how many people loved what he made when he and Yilin decided to take his creations to a local farmers market. His pastries easily gained notoriety. People drove long distances for a chance to savor anything made by Yee. Soon locals were asking where they could find his pastries regularly and repeatedly suggested that he open a store front bakery. Yee did just that and opened Keegan Kreations in downtown Plymouth. He went from making dozens of pastries a week to thousands. The star pastry largely fueling his success was his croissants. For those thinking croissant making is anything but a huge feat just consider that Yee still claims croissants are the most difficult thing he makes in pastry. “Croissants are a love-hate relationship with any baker. They are still hard to perfect.” That said, anyone who has tasted a Keegan Kreations croissant can easily tell that in spite of the difficult nature of the dessert, Yee has perfected it.
Shortly after opening his storefront location in downtown Plymouth, COVID shut down many businesses. Yee was faced with the challenge of continuing to produce the highest quality products while also reaching the community in spite of the required isolations and regulations. “I think operating through COVID taught me a sense of urgency -a sense of never taking community for granted and making smart choices while also thinking about being a positive place for people in hard times. Community is also why people come to here and I won’t ever forget it.”
In addition to a strong sense of community, Keegan pastries and beverages hold their own and have become synonymous with “the best” and “the most authentic” pastries on the South Shore. When asked what makes his goods unique Yee answers, “The quality. Attention to detail. If you have twenty dollars to spend, and you spend it here, I want to make sure that you feel it was worth it. I think about my product, price ranges, and branding, too. I want it all to be the best you can find.”
Yee says he meets with a business mentor every two weeks to refine and reevaluate his approach to the goals he has set for the business. Balancing business with creating in the kitchen has not taken away from the consistent brilliance of the products. Yee said his top three selling pastries are the chocolate croissant that gained him a following, their various, often seasonally themed scones, and their strawberry breakfast toaster pastry that takes the humble, boxed breakfast pastry we grew up with and elevates it to Versailles status. “The strawberry breakfast toaster pastry is made with buttery pie dough, homemade strawberry jam for the filling, and coated with a lemon, strawberry juice and confectionary sugar glaze with freeze dried strawberries on top.”
Even the specialty drinks at Keegan reach a higher caliber. Keegan offers one-of-a-kind beverages such as Banana brûlée -an iced latte with banana foam and caramelized sugar, or a Blueberry Cheesecake Matcha -an iced matcha with blueberry puree and cream cheese foam. With items like these on the menu it is no surprise that Keegan Kreations opened a second storefront location in March of 2024 to meet the growing demands of the community. Having a second store front has required even longer hours, more hard work, and plenty of sleepless nights. When asked if there are challenges in opening a second location Yee says he is learning that it is okay if not everyone loves everything he does and that the business side of Keegan has required him to learn how to run a bakery establishment outside of the kitchen. “Patience is more important than perfection when working with others. Letting go a bit and trusting others to carry out my vision has been a learning experience for me. I am at ease with the baker role. The leader role has been harder. I have had to learn to adapt, really listen, teach, and trust. But I have a great team and I fully trust them to rise to expectations. They teach me a lot, too.”
Taking on a leadership role in addition to the duties and responsibilities in the kitchen has afforded Yee some amazing experiences in his growing business. Especially around the holidays, lines for Keegan Kreations go out the door and stretch down the street. Most locals know by now that you need to order in advance or show up bright and early to snag your intended pastry before they sell out. “Last Thanksgiving there was a line out the door and down the street. People were picking up pies and treats to take to their family dinners. To see faces, familiar and new, and hear where they were taking their pies and desserts -it brought tears to my eyes.”
Yee talks about his business and his team with such pride and gratitude that it’s impossible not to be drawn to the positive energy he has infused into already impeccable pastries. The cumulative experience keeps customers coming back regularly and many faithfully rely on Keegan to supply consistently delicious goods for their most important life occasions and celebrations. “Coming into Keegan should be an experience,” says Yee. “It is not my business; it is a community business. To be able to provide a cake for a wedding, then another to the same customer for their baby’s first birthday…this is what matters to me.”
As I sit in a perfectly moodily lit corner -the kind expected of a timeless café, watching the customers come and go with smiles, and bite into what is easily the best scone I have ever had in my life, I can’t help but see that Keegan matters to our community more than Yee could have ever imagined.
To experience the magic and genius of Keegan Kreations and support a most deserving and generous business and the wonderful people behind it, visit one of their two storefront locations:
Keegan Kreations, 20 Court St., Plymouth, telephone (774)-283-4327
Keegan Kreations, 136 Main St., Kingston, telephone (781)-422-3218
Website:
Keegankreations.com

Stephani Teran
Express staff
If there is a celestial event occurring in the skies, there is a Plympton resident who is likely outside, telescope at the ready, to admire and observe it. Barry DeCristofano, a mechanical and chemical engineer by profession is also a hobbyist astronomer with a collegiate level of expertise in the field. Many of our Express readers now eagerly anticipate the “What’s Up?” page whenever it appears in the paper. Through DeCristofano’s down-to-earth approach on what might be an otherwise complex subject matter to the untrained participant, readers of the Express have been able to learn about various astronomical events and how to better navigate and understand the night sky. Through graphs, easy to decipher but enlightening illustrations, and detailed facts and instructions – often peppered with his gentle humor, astronomy becomes digestible science to the casual observer.
Being an informed participant in and appreciating the wonder and beauty of astronomy and the night sky was something instilled in DeCristofano from childhood. “My dad took me outside and showed me the Big Dipper and I was hooked. Once I learned that there were repeated patterns in the night sky I couldn’t get enough.” DeCristofano explained that his father served in the Navy in WWII and became familiar with the night sky while out at sea.
DeCristofano also grew up during the 1968 Space Program craze when the public was heavily aware of and enthusiastic about space technology and exploration. By the age of 10, DeCristofano had his first telescope and by the age of 13 he had saved up for a larger one. These days DeCristofano has a telescope so large that it requires its own outbuilding in the backyard. The circa 1975 12-1/2” Cave-Astrola Newtonian Reflector is housed in an ingenious shed with a slanted roof that slides down in order to open the building to the sky and offer an unobstructed view of the heavens for gazing and studying. DeCristofano explains that Plympton offers uniquely ideal skies for observation due to low levels of light pollution. Low light pollution is something DeCristofano and his wife, Carolyn, are passionate about. So passionate, in fact, that Carolyn was the force behind the Massachusetts Dark Sky Bill -a bill that aims to lessen levels of light pollution, conserve energy, and protect the natural rhythms of the environment. With skies devoid of the haze of artificial light and a clearing in the patch of trees just big enough to allow an unobstructed view, DeCristofano can enjoy and observe the universe above from the comfort of his backyard.
DeCristofano says he does not have a favorite object or phenomenon to view in the night sky, rather he has some “old friends” that never cease to amaze him including: Saturn, Jupiter, the moon, the Ring Nebula, Orion Nebula, the Andromeda Galaxy, and the Hercules Cluster.
“You are in the dark for half of your life, so enjoy it! The good stuff in the sky comes out at night.”
DeCristofano points out that at the end of each day many of us know exactly what happened in the daytime sky (cloudy, rainy, rainbows) but we are largely unaware of what is happening once the sun sets.
One of the missions he has undertaken in his time as a hobbyist astronomer is public outreach and education. In addition to our “What’s Up?” columns in the paper DeCristofano teaches about astronomy in the community any time he can -especially as a member of the South Shore Astronomical Society, founded in 1958 via a group of amateur astronomers on the South Shore. They meet the first Wednesday of each month at the Norwell Council on Aging and for Observing Nights which are open to the public and offer the chance to look through members’ telescopes provided there are enough clear nights.
Carolyn DeCristofano was the first female president of the society in 2022. From school outreach programs to local libraries and in casual conversation, should you by chance get to talk with her, you will have the opportunity to learn something new about astronomy.
“The hard part is the distractions keeping us inside,” DeCristofano says about what can hinder people from dark sky observation. “Evening television after a long day, constant cell phone usage, being apprehensive about being outside in the dark -and sometimes just finding the will to get off the couch after a work day can hinder motivation. Even I have nights where I have to force myself out there but I am always glad when I do.”
Last year in particular offered an array of rare and easily visible astronomical phenomena. DeCristofano says the increased frequency of events with the aurora should continue through the year before slowing down for another decade or so.
“It was my first time seeing the Northern Lights. The Perseid Meteor Shower was also amazing. You know, I’m out there with my telescope, listening to Pink Floyd and the coyotes howling off in the woods, watching the Northern Lights and it’s just perfect.”
If you want to learn more about navigating the night sky and understanding astronomy look for DeCristofano’s forthcoming “What’s Up?” features in the paper or email him at astroblog@comcast.net and follow along with the South Shore Astronomical Society (South Shore Astronomical Society) for upcoming events and viewing nights with telescopes.
Let’s see if this summer we can make a little more time to look up in the dark and be starstruck by the easily observed wonder of the universe.