Leveridge said he chose seafood because of the rich abundance available in Wairarapa.
"A hapuka, for a steak fish, it's quite delicate.
"If you over-cook it, it falls apart.
"It's got a different texture to snapper or tarakihi.
"When you're eating it, you should get the peppery flavour of the rocket, you've got the salty feta, you've got the sweetness from zucchini and kumara ... it's trying to bring all those flavours together with an Asian style."
Monteith's Pacific Pale Ale was chosen because it was a good palate cleanser and the citrus notes of the beer matched the dish. He said the judges had already been in.
"Now we just have to impress everyone else."
People seem to be happy. He said they sold out of hapuka in the first two days the dish went up.
Leveridge was born in Masterton but grew up in Auckland, learning to be a chef at the Manakau Institute of Technology.
He has been three years back in Wairarapa, and was previously at Salute in Greytown.
"This is my eighth year as a chef, and I'm not running the other way.
"I wouldn't do anything else."
Co-owner Blair Thompson said the business had been open for nine months and it was the first time they had entered the Wild Food Challenge.
"We're testing the waters. We're definitely going to do it again."
He reckons Leveridge's dish is "spot on".
"Heaps have been sold, pretty much one on every table."
He said Leveridge came with a lot of experience. "He brought a lot to this business, that's why it's going so well."
Other competing Wairarapa restaurants are Horseshoe Restaurant, Masterton; Martinborough Hotel Bar and Grill and the White Swan Country Hotel, Greytown.
