It's plenty 'racist' here in the UK (at least under the left-wing redefinition of the word racist as any mention of race at all). Chicken shops and jerk chicken are associated with the African-Caribbean population.
All he's done with his analysis is used two thinly disguised proxy variables to hide his true hypothesis, which may very well be a good hypothesis but is unpalatable to discuss in public.
> at least under the left-wing redefinition of the word racist as any mention of race at all
The overcautious avoidance of race as a subject does exist, but is nothing to do with left/right in my experience. I associate it with people who don't live in mixed areas, they tend to be more awkward about mentioning race and certainly aren't more left wing on average.
Even under your redefinition of racist, the article isn't racist. The author doesn't make any mention of race at all. Anybody correlating food and drink with a skin colour is projecting their own racist connotations.
They might spike while gentrification is ongoing, especially in the early stages. My hypothesis for this statement is that more affluent people are: 1. More likely to be robbed (ie: they have items that others want), and 2. More likely to report crimes against them to the police. (ie: They trust the authorities, and they might need police reports to file insurance claims (affluent people are more likely to insure their property))
This does not solely reflect lower socioeconomic standing as Pakistani + Bangladeshi communities have higher levels of poverty, and similarly poor areas of cities in Wales and Scotland do not have the same proportionate level of gun crime that occurs in London.
All he's done with his analysis is used two thinly disguised proxy variables to hide his true hypothesis, which may very well be a good hypothesis but is unpalatable to discuss in public.