C yrus owners Douglas Keane and Nick Peyton were elated to receive two stars from the Michelin Guide in 2007. Now they'd like to up that to three. And one of the ways they hope to garner that bit of extra gleam in the Michelin inspectors' eyes, says Keane, is with bread. That's as in world-class starch, conveyed via a multichoice bread cart à la the service found at Michelin three-star restaurants like Joel Robuchon and Guy Savoy.

So they're spending some serious bread of their own. The duo are building a $300,000 bakery next door to their Healdsburg restaurant. It's situated in the back of Costeaux French Bakery, which conveniently opens directly out to the back door of Cyrus (Costeaux has moved their production to an off site commissary).

Currently, diners are treated to bread from Petaluma's Della Fattoria, which chef Keane says he "adores," but "it's just one amazing" choice, and he wants to put his own signature on a variety, such as a sourdough, a bacon bread and perhaps corn muffins.

It will also be even fresher, Keane points out, with bread coming out of the oven at 4pm for service at 5:30pm. He hopes to eventually be able to pull off baking during service, for made-to-order presentation.

While it's a large investment for a product that will be given away for free, Keane insists he sees a payoff. "[The multichoice bread cart] makes you feel so pampered, and we're always pushing ourselves to do things better," he says. "We saw the difference getting a two-star rating made on the business, so we thought, if we can get a third, it's not completely crazy."

Part of the space will also be used as temperature-controlled butchery and a catering commissary. Look for the new dough to debut by late summer.

Cyrus, 29 North St., Healdsburg. 707.433.3311.

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