Mama Nikki (Nikki was a childhood nickname) took a brief break from her cooking this week to grant an interview, not bothering to remove the clear plastic hair guard that covered her curls.
Where does she find all the energy?
"I smoke my little cigarettes and drink my cocktails twice a week," she replied, adding that she is growing tired of the grind.
By midafternoon Saturday, her family will make sure she is relaxing in front of the cafeteria televisions for the big race. She plans to be festively dressed in her prized black-and-yellow "cat in the hat" hat. (She keeps it locked in a safe lest anyone try to pinch it.)
"Honey," she said, "I'll probably have my cocktail." Early Times bourbon is her drink of choice.
Two years ago, she says, she won $9,000 betting on the Kentucky Derby, which led to a question: Who do you like in the Preakness?
No tips were forthcoming, at least for the moment. She's been too busy in the kitchen to do research.
"I don't even know nothin' about no horses. The filly - I don't know about her, neither. I don't know yet. I haven't seen the whosie-whatsie. I'll look at that this evening."
Friday morning the focus was still on food, and her clientele seemed plenty satisfied with the offerings.
Louis "Scottie" Scott, an 88-year-old retired trainer, eyed the racing form after finishing his egg sandwich. He sat on a cushioned metal chair at one of the faux-wooden tables adorned with a silk black-eyed Susan in a vase.
Scott's review: "Gives you plenty to eat and cooks it good."
Kenny Ransburg, a 60-year-old farrier who's known Mama Nikki for decades, ordered a platter of fish, greens and beans. He did not get a chance to visit with her because of the chaos in the kitchen.
"I try to agitate her," he said. "She takes it well. I tell her, 'Let me have some of that greasy old fried chicken.' She laughs. If I didn't really like it, I wouldn't buy it."
