As the sheftalia sausages sizzled amid flames that reached as high as a foot from the grille, Mark Laska turned to Scott Fraser and broke the bad news.

“Oh, that’s not good. Not good,” Laska said, shaking his head.

“So sorry, buddy.”

Fraser could only turn away and laugh. He has grown accustomed to Laska’s dry sense of humor, and wasn’t taking his feigned attempts to rattle the joyous occasion in his kitchen seriously.

Not much could have wiped the frequent smiles off Fraser’s face during an evening when he shared his Oak Harbor restaurant’s kitchen with Whidbey Island’s finest chefs.

Fraser, Laska and three other chefs pooled their talents and prepared a five-course meal for guests Monday night at Frasers Gourmet Hideaway as part of a fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Island County.

The event sold out at the Big Brothers Big Sisters Festival of Trees event in Oak Harbor in December with more than 70 tickets selling for $100 apiece.

Fraser and Tyler Hansen, owner and chef at The Oystercatcher in Coupeville, came up with the idea to call upon their culinary friends to offer a unique evening of hospitality for an important cause, combining the talents of Whidbey’s best known chefs representing three different communities.

The event, “Whidbey’s Best of the Best,” brought together Fraser and Gordon Stewart of Gordon’s on Blueberry Hill in Freeland with three Coupeville chefs: Andreas Wurzrainer of Christopher’s on Whidbey, Laska of Ciao and Hansen.

“It’s pretty unique to have that talent in one room,” said Penny Perka, executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Island County.

And, as it turned out, pretty inspirational too for chefs who have more than 140 combined years of experience in the restaurant business.

“It’s awesome,” said Wurzrainer, who is celebrating his 13th year at Christopher’s on Whidbey and 30th in the restaurant business. “You don’t always have the opportunity to do something like this.”

“This is my first time working with Tyler,” said Gordon, another longtime veteran in the business. “I can tell you right off the bat, I was impressed with Tyler the minute I met him. I haven’t been to his place yet. He’s the kind of chef who inspires you.”

(BELOW: Participants in ‘Whidbey’s Best of the Best’ were, from left: Scott Fraser, Michael Tsosie, Kyle Campbell, Gordon Stewart, Andreas Wurzrainer, Mark Laska and Tyler Hansen.)

Each chef put their own unique touch on dishes that were paired with wines provided by Rain Shadow Cellars in Coupeville and Whidbey Island Distillery in Langley.

Hansen prepared smoked Columbia River sturgeon with wild nettle puree. Wurzrainer made deconstructed seafood chowder that included crab, smoked mussels, clams and house cured bacon.

Laska created cypriot flatbread pizzetta, which contained the sausage he prepared, and Fraser provided braised beef cheek and herb infused open ravioli.

The dessert was a creation of Gordon’s, mascarpone chocolate semifreddo, a frozen mousse with a layer of dried cranberry raisins that have been soaked in blackberry brandy. A hot chocolate sauce and other ingredients are added.

“You can feel the local flavor and the chefs are exceptional,” said Julie Langrock, a board member with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Island County.

Fraser said the chefs want to make the occasion an annual event, holding it at different locations.

“It goes for a great cause,” Fraser said. “It gives us a chance to get together and bond as chefs. We hardly get a chance to get out to a restaurant. It’s nice to get them all here on one night.”

Laska said he was humbled to be in the company of Whidbey’s top chefs and was honored when Fraser asked him if he’d be interested in being a part of the event.

“For all of us, it’s our job to put out a lot of love,” Laska said. “That’s what we do every day. We bring our creativity. We bring our love to this community and this passion. This event is something really special.”

He said Whidbey Islanders live in an extraordinary community where giving is contagious.

“These people will take this out of this room and they’ll do 100 beautiful things in this community,” Laska said, “and it just ripples through. It’s just this flow that goes in and out of this community. The fabric of this community is that they care for their neighbor, and that’s what we do. To play such a little part in that is a great honor.”