MenuMagic is software for professionals working in the culinary industry, including personal chefs and small-event caterers. The software is not actually purchased but is leased on an annual basis for $189 the first year, and slightly less thereafter. A considerable discount is given to members of USPCA, who also receive access to a large database of recipes.
The lease fee for MenuMagic includes access to tech support by phone and e-mail. Free upgrades during the term of the lease are also included. A trial version of the software can be downloaded first. However, you’ll need a fast modem or cable access, since the download is 13.2 MB in size. The program requires 60 MB of free disk space and at least 64 MB of RAM. As always, 128 MB of RAM is better, or even more, if your PC is already fully loaded. Other requirements are on the website.
MenuMagic is now at version 2.5. It has numerous features, some of which may not be found in other recipe management systems. Some capabilities include the following: menu creation, categories for recipes, customer preferences, recipe labels, and cost updates.
More MenuMagic Features
This software can even perform nutritional analysis of a recipe, keep track of customer allergies, and show when you last provided service to that customer and any feedback you received. Organized shopping lists are a cinch, and invoices and statements are easy to generate and print out. It is not hard to see how the software can save a lot of time that would otherwise be spent looking things up manually.