Pitches Store won best regional dish at the Silver Fern Farms Premier Selection Awards, held in Auckland this week.
Sixty-two entrants from Kerikeri to Queenstown were narrowed down to 12 finalists, who were rejudged by industry experts Kerry Tyack and Tony Adcock.
Mr Hill impressed judges with his dish of smoked eye fillet of premier selection reserve beef and green tea.
Head judge Kerry Tyack said the dish helped the beef realise its full potential.
"Chef Hill's beautiful dish with its strong visual appeal delivered a finely balanced fillet, tender and perfectly seasoned and wonderfully balanced.
"The green tea was subtle and playful, tempting the beef to show its true strength.''
The entrants in the awards continued to raise the bar and selecting the winners from such a high calibre of entrants was challenging, the judges said.
The awards, now in their third year, invite chefs to create an original dish using a Silver Fern Farms cut of lamb, beef, venison or Silere alpine origin merino.
Diners can experience the finalists' and winners' dishes until the end of March.
The other award-winners were:
• Botswana Butchery, in Auckland, for 2015 Premier Master of Fine Cuisine, best beef dish and best metro
• Pravda Cafe, in Wellington, for best venison dish
• Salt on The Waterfront, in New Plymouth and Palate Restaurant, in Hamilton, joint winners for best lamb dish.
