I believe so: the importance of open data.

This finding is a perfect example of the fascinating insights you can get when you combine big, seemingly disparate datasets.

I'm not sure where you would go to get an equivalent dataset for "restaurant reservations".

In the sense that it uses readily-available crime data to make inferences about possibly correlated phenomena, this analysis is another iteration on Adrian Holovaty's original mashup:

http://www.holovaty.com/writing/chicagocrime.org-tribute/