I have a bunch of raw almonds and would like to use them in creative ways. Any ideas?

Mom and Dad are coming out from the east coast for T-Day, and we'll be going out Friday night to surprise my Mom with a fancy beautiful dinner. Looking at the big "occasion" restaurants, and we have narrowed it down to the following:

Michael Mina
Dining Room at the Ritz
Aqua
Fleur de Lys

What is your vote and why? We'll have 5 people in our party-- all fairly adventurous diners. Looking for a place that will really impress with food, decor, service-- in short, everything.

I must say that I was disappointed about the inconsistency at this place. My wife and I ordered the heirloom tomato salad and the tuna appetizer. Both were exceptional. We also ordered the cheeseburger (something I assumed any restaurant of this caliber could pull off) and a side of sweet corn. Unfortunately, the cheeseburger was literally inedible. The beef was cooked well when medium was requested, was about 50% of the surface area of the bun, and topped with bacon that was cooked about 20 minutes too long. If you like bread, this is good option since the bun accounted for most of the meal. The corn was overly salted and basically burned through. (To add insult to injury, upon returning home the Food Network was televising the Build a Better Burger Contest up in Sonoma!!!) Hopefully, this was just a mistake of the kitchen. Still, beware of that saying the kitchen was inconsistent on our visit would be being polite.