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88 2 0 1 5 T R A V E L G U I D E T O C A L I F O R N I A WORLD-FAMOUS as a historic center of free speech and 1960s counterculture, Berkeley, on the eastern shore of San Fran- cisco Bay, has morphed into a foodie destination and unique arts and shopping mecca. But it's still Berkeley, proudly off- beat, quirky and fun to visit. The Downtown Arts District on Addison Street showcases the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the Aurora Theatre Company and the venerable folk music haven Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse, which is both a per- formance venue and community-minded folk music learning center. The Pacific Film Archive Theater will remain open through summer, but its sister institution, the Berkeley Art Museum, is closed while it moves into a new building in downtown Berkeley in early 2016. North Berkeley along and near Shattuck Avenue is the city's Gourmet Ghetto, with its jewel in the crown, Chez Panisse, founded by the doyenne of fresh, local, seasonal California cuisine, Alice Waters. The 1966 original Peet's Coffee and Tea shop is right nearby, as are excellent food markets, the Cheese Board cheese shop/bakery and fine restau- rants such as the French-flavored Liaison. One-of-a-kind shopping abounds on Fourth Street, north of University Avenue in West Berkeley; standouts include Miki's Paper, which features hand-made Japanese stationery and wrapping paper. Gorgeous brown-shingle wooden homes and public buildings by celebrated architects Bernard Maybeck and Julia Morgan—who adapted Arts and Crafts design to form the Bay Region style in the early 20 th century— enrich the city. Maybeck's serene 1910 First Church of Christ, Scientist, just east of Tele- graph Avenue and south of the UC Berkeley campus, is an architectural hymn to silence. On campus, Cal Performances brings international headliners to Zellerbach Hall. You can toast the artists and debate the true meaning of art in a plenitude of craft micro- breweries that dot the area near campus and beyond; the new Berkeley Brew Trail high- lights places to sip hand-crafted suds; specifics are available from the city's Visitor Information Center, 2030 Addison St. Got golf? Certainly. You can tee it up at the 18- hole Tilden Park Golf Course, in the woodsy Berkeley Hills above the bay. BERKELEY Bastion of liberal thought, superb dining and performing arts B Y D A V I D A R M S T R O N G UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA at Berkeley's campus seen from Inspiration Point, above; Rasputin Music on Telegraph Avenue, below. PATTIE STEIB/SHUTTERSTOCK ; VISIT BERKELEY » DINE, SHOP, GOLF, SEE A PLAY Berkeley Tourism Information visitberkeley.com