Tae Dickey

Owner/Proprietor/Executive Chef

Tae Dickey was born in South Korea and spent his adolescence in the northeastern US. He started working in kitchens as early as 13 years old and, by the time he went away to college, he had worked in and experienced many different kitchen styles and cuisine types. As a teenager, he and his family had good friends in Europe so on one of their many visits, they went to Italy. That trip changed Tae’s view of food forever, along with its sourcing and preparation. His college years were spent at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. Since then, he’s made his way out West, working in many Italian kitchens and climbing up the culinary ladder. He always remembered that first trip to Italy and practiced the art of making the perfect pizza dough as well as many of the iconic indigenous Italian dishes. He got married in 2011 in Los Angeles and he and his family moved to San Diego in 2013. It was the perfect time and the perfect place to finally launch his passion project and call it “BIGA.” BIGA is Tae’s homage to Italy and his first restaurant opened in 2014 in the Historic Gaslamp District, on the corner of 6th Avenue and Broadway in downtown San Diego. Unfortunately, with the devastation to the downtown area caused by the pandemic of 2020, that first restaurant closed its doors but the tremendous community support kept the BIGA food and spirit alive. Both can now be found during events at The Shell and through private catering. Thank you, San Diego!