COMMENTS & CURIOSITIES:

It can be a lot of things. An institution can be a person, a place or a thing, as long as it’s been around for a good long time.

In this case, it’s a matching pair of institutions — the Five Crowns restaurant, and its remarkable wine captain, Tommy Martin, who is celebrating his 40h anniversary at the legendary palace of prime rib on PCH with the English phone booth out front.

Keep that phone booth in mind by the way. We’ll get back to it.

If you haven’t met Tommy Martin, and I’m not sure how that’s possible, you need to do so at your earliest convenience.

Both as a professional and a person, you will meet very few like him anywhere, anytime.

The fact that he is a world-class wine captain goes without saying.

Whether you’re a card-carrying wine lover or you wouldn’t know Laurent-Perrier champagne from Lawrence Welk, Tommy will make it a memorable visit, effortlessly and elegantly.

Of course, with Five Crowns’ wine program, a Wine Spectator Grand Award winner, he has a whole lot to work with.

But what has really created the small army of Tommy Martin fans among Five Crowns regulars is his upbeat, high-energy approach to, well, everything — from wine to food to life. High energy is an understatement.

If Edison could figure out some way to hook him up in the next blackout, Tommy could power everything from Santa Barbara to San Diego for at least six hours.

When he isn’t pouring wine, Tommy is an avid runner. He runs six miles a day and races in the Corona del Mar 5K every year.

But it’s Tommy’s perennially positive personality that will make you feel good, no matter how bad a day it’s been.

If you ever get laid off, get a ticket on the way home then get rear-ended just before you get to your house which is on fire and they tell you that your wife left you but she torched the place on the way out — head down to the Five Crowns and spend a few minutes with Tommy Martin. You’ll be totally over it by the time the entrée arrives.

According to Five Crowns general manager Chris Szechenyi, regulars will change their reservation to make sure Tommy is working that night and ask to be seated at one of his tables when they arrive.

“Tommy is the Five Crowns’ mascot,” said Szechenyi.

Martin has so many fans that the restaurant created a “Tommy’s Top Ten Treasures” insert for their wine list — a “Virtual Tommy” for those nights when the real one has the day off.

But above all, Tommy Martin understands the one thing that makes a great establishment great — the service. “All a guest wants is for you to be nice and care about them,” said Martin. “Once you do that, everything works.”

Born in Liverpool, Tommy started his career at the ripe old age of 15 as a bellboy at one of the world’s premiere hotels — London’s Grosvenor House.

He headed out to sea the next year as a steward on a Cunard Line luxury liner and later on the White Star Line’s RMS Brittanic. It was the final chapter in the golden age of transatlantic cruise ships, which faded fast when the jet age came roaring in, which landed Tommy in Manhattan behind the bar at the original Fridays on the Upper East Side.

It took only a few New York winters to convince Tommy to follow a friend who had moved to a place in California called Orange County, where it took Tommy all of 72 hours to find a job.

As he was driving along PCH, he saw a Tudor-styled restaurant with a bright red English phone booth out front.

“They must have something for me,” Tommy said.

Boy did they ever. That was 40 years ago, and he has been wowing them at the Five Crowns ever since.

He has selected the perfect wine for more guests than he could count, but some names stick out more than others, like Richard and Pat Nixon, Jimmy Stewart, John and Pilar Wayne, Liz Taylor, Mel Blanc and a party of three I would have given at least that many teeth to sit next to — Mel Brooks, Dom DeLuise and Marty Feldman.

One of those celeb guests, the late cartoonist Chuck Jones — creator of the Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, and my all-time favorite skunk, Pepe Le Pew — became a lifelong friend. When Jones received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Tommy was at his side.

It’s been quite a run at the Five Crowns for Tommy Martin. He has no intention of ending it until the Almighty calls “time” and he sums up his philosophy with typical simplicity and grace.

“Care and give without expecting anything in return,” said Tommy. “I have had a great marriage with the Five Crowns and all my co-workers, and the guests continue to have a special place in my heart.”

Any questions? I didn’t think so. Happy anniversary, Tommy. You earned it, and then some.

I gotta go.

PETER BUFFA is a former Costa Mesa mayor. His column runs Sundays. He may be reached at [email protected].