Pretentious? Moi? Absolutely, says Salvatore

It’s not often that Salvatore Malatesta, owner of Melbourne cafes St Ali and St Ali North, and chef/restaurateur Pete Evans are grouped with the likes of rock star Sting and rapper Kanye West - but this is exactly what has happened on the British website BuzzFeed.

Earlier this month the site posted a list titled ‘‘The 24 Most Pretentious Things Ever’’ and Malatesta and Evans had the dubious honour of coming in at number 1 and 7 respectively.

A photo of Malatesta brewing siphon coffee at his CBD cafe Sensory Lab earned the No. 1 spot, with BuzzFeed claiming that ‘‘this method of preparing coffee’’ was the most pretentious thing ever, adding, that the ‘‘coffee costs £8 ($13)’’.

Chef Pete Evans’s daily diet of activated almonds, goji berries and alkalised water got a ribbing when he made it public last year and Buzzfeed found that ‘‘this guy’s diet’’ was pretentious enough to make No. 7.

Malatesta claimed he was chuffed with the inclusion: ‘‘I am flattered; if the people who wrote the list met me, they would see I have a healthy level of pretension.

"I'm more pretentious than Sting. That's pretty cool!"

For Evans, receiving another dig for his diet does not bother him, but does he regret ever putting it out there?

"I don’t regret being honest about what I cook and eat at home,’’ he says. ‘‘The amount of positive feedback and success stories that I have received from people who eat this way and have overcome health issues for themselves and their family is overwhelming.’’

Is any publicity (pretentious or otherwise) good publicity? Add your comments below.

Read BuzzFeed's full list here